Thread by @aaronsibarium

NEW: The dean of Columbia College, Josef Sorett, mocked Columbia’s top Hillel official in a new text message obtained by the Beacon, further implicating him in the scandal that’s caused three of his colleagues to be placed on leave.

“LMAO,” Sorett said of the rabbi’s remarks.🧵

Sorett’s text came in response to a sarcastic message from his colleague, Columbia’s vice dean and chief administrative officer Susan Chang-Kim, who said of Columbia’s Hillel director, Brian Cohen, "He is our hero."

The exchange, according to the person who photographed Chang-Kim’s cell phone during the May 31 panel on anti-Semitism, came as Cohen told a concerned parent that his "soul has been broken" by the protests on Columbia’s campus, which included calls to murder Jewish students.

In an earlier exchange between the two officials, Sorett agreed with Chang-Kim’s verdict that the panel, which included Jewish students and parents as well as faculty, was "difficult to listen to."

Sorett has since sought to distance himself from that exchange, telling an alumni advisory board that the messages did not "indicate the views of any individual or the team."

The new exchange, which has not been previously reported, could create an additional challenge for Sorett as he seeks to stem the fallout from the leaked messages.

It raises questions about what else could be uncovered if Columbia complies with a request from the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, the congressional body investigating campus anti-Semitism, to turn over the texts by June 26.

Read the whole story, by myself and @elianayjohnson, in the @FreeBeacon:

freebeacon.com/campus/lmao-de…