MIT Professor Sues to Block Release of Files to House Committee

An MIT linguistics professor has asked a federal court to block the school from providing documents to a congressional committee that’s engaged in alleged campaign to wrongly tar him as an antisemite.

In a complaint filed Saturday, professor Michel DeGraff said the House Committee on Education & Workforce investigation into antisemitism on college campuses, led by its chairman Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), is “a political vendetta with no legislative purpose whatsoever.” DeGraff said the committee has twisted his words and converted “protected academic discourse into antisemitism.’”

The committee last year brought university presidents before it to testify about antisemitism, which amplified public calls for their resignations. DeGraff’s lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, said Walberg accused him of fueling the rise of antisemitic forces at the university.

In December, the committee sent MIT a “broad request” for files relating to antisemitism, research collaborations with Israel, and an anonymized chart of complaints against students, faculty, or staff related to antisemitic incidents.

The request is “intended to convey a threat of adverse government action,” DeGraff said, that if not blocked will “chill” his freedom of speech and association.

The committee, Walberg, and MIT have all allegedly violated DeGraff’s free speech rights by coercing the university to restrict his teaching, withholding a pay raise, and removing him from the department.

DeGraff said Walberg and the committee can’t seek protection of the constitution’s speech and debate clause because the investigation don’t relate to any valid legislative purpose.

The lawsuit also claims MIT created a hostile work environment for DeGraff and pro-Palestinian students, and it breached its contract with him outlined in written policies and governance documents.

Representatives for the parties weren’t immediately available for comment.

DeGraff is represented by Jolie Parisi of Salem, Mass., and Jonathan Wallace of Amagansett, NY.

The case is DeGraff v. Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., D. Mass., No. 1:26-cv-11488, complaint filed 3/28/26.