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The Trump administration<\/span> quietly broadened its crackdown on campus pro-Palestine protests over the summer, moving to ensnare one of the largest unions in the country in a case revolving around alleged incidents of vandalism.<\/p>\n The national headquarters of the American Federation of Teachers<\/a>, or AFT, received a grand jury subpoena in August as part of an ongoing federal investigation into protests at the University of Michigan. Twelve pro-Palestine activists have been charged<\/a> with felonies in the case.<\/p>\n The subpoena against the AFT<\/a>, which has not been previously reported and was obtained by The Intercept, shows the administration casting a wider net in its investigation into student protesters than was previously known.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re using this language around conspiracy and trying to draw in all of these different organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n The Graduate Employees\u2019 Organization<\/a>, or GEO, an AFT local at the university, also received a notice to provide information and testimony to a grand jury around the same time, according to a copy of the previously unreported subpoena<\/a> obtained by The Intercept.<\/p>\n The effort to draw a powerful, liberal union into a case that revolves around spray-painting charges represents a dramatic escalation in Donald Trump\u2019s war on the left.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re using this language around conspiracy and trying to draw in all of these different organizations that are taking stances against fascism, against the government, and anything that\u2019s counter to their ideology,\u201d said Natalie Chen, who serves as GEO\u2019s communications director. \u201cThis is perhaps another \u2018in\u2019 for them to broaden their attack <\/p>\n on labor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n