Blacklisting Harvard's pro-Palestinian students.

I have been following the bribery trial, four years in the making, of disgraced former Chicago alder Eddie Burke.

The other day I read that the current judge in the trial which is supposed to start in six weeks, may rule in favor of excluding anti-Jewish statements Burke made when he was trying to get the tax appeal business of the developers of the Old Post Office.

Now the prosecutors seem willing to agree to the Burke lawyers ask that all mention of Burke’s connection to Donald Trump be excluded from trial.

Burke lawyers are arguing that, Trump is “despised by a significant percentage of the population.”

“Mr. Burke’s legal work for (Trump) could cause many jurors to have an unfavorable impression of Mr. Burke and could create significant bias against him,” Burke’s lawyers wrote in a motion late Friday. Telling jurors about the Burke-Trump association is “fraught with the likelihood of unfair prejudice,” the motion argued.

Prosecutors and the judge seem to agree.

In other news.

Multi-billionaire hedge funder, Bill Ackerman, is demanding that Harvard hand him the names of all the members of groups that signed a letter in defense of Palestine rights and wants the individuals blacklisted from employment for having been a member of a group that signed the letter. Over 30 Harvard groups signed the statement, although facing threats of the blacklist, some withdrew their support.

Multiple other corporate bosses, including the CEOs of shopping club FabFitFun, health tech startup EasyHealth and Dovehill Capital Management supported the call from Ackman to name the students.

“I would like to know so I know never to hire these people,” Jonathan Neman, CEO of restaurant chain Sweetgreen, said on X.

If this sounds like McCarthyism to you, you’re right.

Ackerman, a Harvard grad and billionaire hedge fund manager who is the founder and chief executive officer of Pershing Square Capital Management, a hedge fund management company.

As of June 2023, Ackman's net worth was estimated at $3.5 billion by Forbes.

Ackerman called for the publication of the names of all students involved in signing the letter so that he could ensure his company and others do not "inadvertently hire" any of the signatories.

In a post on X Ackerman, without irony posted, "One should not be able to hide behind a corporate shield when issuing statements supporting the actions of terrorists," and the names "should be made public so their views are publicly known".

In 2021, Ackerman supported Kyle Rittenhouse's self-defense claim while the criminal trial was ongoing.

Harvard’s response to Ackerman was to distance themselves from the statement of the students, without any mention of Ackerman’s threat to free speech.