A group of Columbia University’s top law scholars has warned that a Trump administration threat to further cut the university’s federal funding contains “glaring legal problems”, as pressure grows to fight back against demands for changes to how the university is run.

The threat came after Columbia became a flashpoint in US protests over Israel’s offensive in Gaza. Large-scale pro-Palestinian campus protests last year included the takeover of a university building, an issue that the Trump administration has taken up as it seeks to wield power over colleges.

Seven senior legal academics at Columbia argued this weekend on the specialist blog Balkinization that a letter last Thursday from officials in Washington contained “legal infirmities” relating to academic freedom and due process in the constitution and Civil Rights Act.