By Katelyn Polantz and Devan Cole, CNN

(CNN) — A Defense Department official told others in the Trump administration that a $12 million biological threat research grant at Harvard shouldn’t be terminated because of national security risks, according to the school’s latest court filing.

The disclosure is part of a trove of internal Trump administration documents reviewed by Harvard lawyers. Harvard says the records show the White House directed the abrupt freezing of more than $2 billion in federal funds headed to the university’s research programs, in violation of federal law.

“Harvard is currently the top performing team on the … program,” which helps the Defense Department stay abreast of emergency biological threats, wrote the official from DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Proje

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