On Tuesday, September 2, 2025, The Boston Globe revealed a striking paradox at the heart of a high-profile legal battle between the Trump administration and Harvard University. The Justice Department’s lead lawyer on the case, Michael Velchik—a Harvard alumnus himself—has become the subject of controversy after reports surfaced about his college writings and personal correspondence, which included unsettling references to Adolf Hitler and his manifesto, Mein Kampf.
Velchik, now a senior counsel at the Department of Justice, has been the public face of the administration’s case against Harvard. The government’s argument is straightforward: Harvard, they allege, has exhibited “wanton indifference to antisemitism” on campus, making it unfit for federal funding. In July, Velchik stood before a federal judge and declared, “The choice was made, let’s not give federal taxpayer dollars to institutions that exhibit a wanton indifference to antisemitism,” according to The Boston Globe.
Yet, as the Globe reported, Velchik’s own past at Harvard is now under scrutiny. In 2011, during his senior year as a Classics major, Velchik was assigned to write a short paper in Latin from the perspective of a controversial historical or literary figure. The assignment was open-ended: students could choose anyone from Nero to Medea, or even a twentieth-century tycoon. Velchik chose Adolf Hitler. This decision, according to three sources familiar with the incident—two of whom read the paper—left his instructor so disturbed that Velchik was required to redo the assignment. “At Harvard in 2011, no one would say that Hitler was a controversial figure,” one source told the Globe, highlighting the shock felt by those who encountered the paper.
About eighteen months later, as Velchik prepared to enter Harvard Law School, he again returned to the subject of Hitler. In a June 2013 email to a peer, Velchik wrote, “[I]s it bad that my favorite class at harvard was nietzsche and my favorite book I’ve read this year is mein kampf?” The email, obtained by The Boston Globe, made no mention of Hitler’s responsibility for the Holocaust, in which six million Jews were murdered.
Velchik’s correspondence did not stop there. After starting at Harvard Law, he sent another email to a peer, this time reviewing 76 books he had read recently. Of Mein Kampf, he wrote, “fascinating,” and praised Hitler’s skills as an orator and propagandist: “He certainly excelled as an orator, and his writing reflects oratory… Understands the importance of propaganda. Thought that the timing of a speech was important: better late at night!” Again, he omitted any reference to the Holocaust or Hitler’s crimes.
While some may chalk up these remarks to youthful provocation or academic bravado, they have taken on new significance now that Velchik is the government’s chief advocate in a case centered on antisemitism. The emails were provided to the Globe by a source who requested anonymity, citing fears of retribution from the Trump administration.
Velchik’s academic journey is as storied as it is unconventional. Originally from Northern Virginia, he attended St. Albans School in Washington, D.C., where he competed in Latin and math, captained the math team, and played multiple sports. At Harvard, he joined the men’s varsity lightweight rowing team and became known as a prolific, if sometimes enigmatic, scholar. According to classmates, Velchik was “introverted, bookish,” and, as one friend recalled, “never very political.” Blake Bainou, a close undergraduate friend, described him as “just very focused on the academics and the theory.”
Velchik’s undergraduate career culminated with his delivery of the prestigious Latin Oration at Harvard’s commencement in 2012, a tradition dating back centuries. His speech, delivered in Latin, drew laughter and applause for its playful jabs at Harvard’s rivalry with Yale and its elite reputation. “For some of you, this is the climax,” he told his classmates. “Life is only downhill from here. You will spend the rest of your life always looking backwards and often reminding those around you that you went to college in Boston — well actually in Cambridge.”
After Harvard College, Velchik enrolled at Harvard Law School, where he joined the Federalist Society—a group known for its conservative and libertarian leanings. He graduated in 2016, then embarked on a career that would take him from a global law firm to the Oklahoma solicitor general’s office, and eventually to the White House. In 2019, Velchik joined Donald Trump’s legal team as a deputy associate counsel, working on policy and matters related to Trump’s impeachment.
Velchik’s family, too, has expressed political views publicly. On February 5, 2020, after the Senate voted not to remove Trump from office, Velchik’s father posted on Facebook: “NOT GUILTY! TRUMP ACQUITTED! GREAT SUCCESS!” Both parents are now retired, his father from medicine and his mother from school development, according to The Boston Globe.
Following Trump’s departure from the White House in 2021, Velchik joined Senator Josh Hawley’s staff as senior counsel and later legislative director. Hawley, a former Missouri attorney general, praised Velchik as “soft-spoken” and “one of the ablest lawyers that I’ve worked with.” He added, “I never found that there was an issue Michael could not get up to speed on in an extremely brief period of time. He has an encyclopedic mind.”
In 2025, Velchik returned to government as a senior counsel at the Department of Justice, where he was assigned to the Harvard case. In court, Velchik argued that the administration had the right to determine federal funding priorities, including cutting research funding for Harvard if it failed to address campus antisemitism. “Harvard should have read the fine print,” he said, referencing contract clauses that allow the government to withdraw funding at any time.
Judge Allison D. Burroughs, who presided over the case, expressed skepticism about the connection between research funding for diseases like cancer or Alzheimer’s and allegations of campus antisemitism. “It is the policy of the United States that federal taxpayer dollars should not go to institutions that have exhibited a deliberate indifference to antisemitism,” Velchik replied. Judge Burroughs acknowledged Velchik’s skillful argument, remarking, “I hear what you’re saying, and you’re saying it very well. So the Harvard education is paying off for you.”
The Justice Department, for its part, has stood by Velchik. Brett Shumate, assistant attorney general of the civil division, stated, “Michael has handled some of the Civil Division’s most important cases defending the President’s agenda in court with the utmost respect and professionalism.”
Despite multiple requests from The Boston Globe, Velchik declined to comment on the revelations about his college writings and book reviews. His friends and former colleagues remain divided—some recalling his intellectual curiosity and independence, others struggling to reconcile his academic provocations with his current role.
As the case against Harvard unfolds, the spotlight remains fixed on Michael Velchik—a man whose intellectual pursuits, personal correspondence, and professional ambitions now intersect at the center of a national debate over free speech, academic freedom, and the fight against antisemitism.
