n an investigative report, the Washington Post found that last month a group of billionaires and business leaders secretly urged New York City’s mayor to send police to disperse pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University.

The Washington Post obtained communications showing that on April 26, business figures such as Daniel Lubetzky, Daniel Loeb, Len Blavatnik, and Joseph Sitt held a Zoom call with Mayor Eric Adams. This call occurred about a week after police were first sent to Columbia’s campus. Some participants discussed political donations to Adams and exerting pressure on Columbia’s leadership to allow police intervention.

One group member told The Post he donated the maximum legal limit of $2,100 to Adams that month. Some members also offered to fund private investigators to assist the police, an offer reportedly accepted by Adams. However, City Hall stated that the NYPD has not used private investigators for this purpose.