Tipsheet

Garland Deflects Claims That DOJ Targeted Parents Concerned About Their Children's Education

Madeline Leesman
Madeline Leesman  |  September 20, 2023 4:30 PM

On Wednesday, President Joe Biden’s Attorney General Merrick Garland appeared in a House Judiciary hearing where he brushed off claims that the DOJ targeted parents who were outspoken at school board meetings in recent years. 

To recap, in 2021, the National School Board Association (NSBA) sent a letter to the Biden administration calling parents who speak out at school board meetings “domestic terrorists.” Shortly after, Garland sent a memo to the FBI to “convene meetings with federal, state, local, Tribal, and territorial leaders in each federal judicial district within 30 days of the issuance of this memorandum…facilitate the discussion of strategies for addressing threats against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff, and will open dedicated lines of communication for threat reporting, assessment, and response.”

In the hearing on Wednesday, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) asked Garland if “parents who are very vocal about their kids’ education…should they be classified as domestic terrorists?”

“Of course not,” Garland said, saying that “vigorous objections” are protected by the First Amendment. 

Van Drew pointed out that he holds Garland accountable for labeling concerned parents as “domestic terrorists.”

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Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy pressed Garland about the memo and asked why it had not been rescinded.

“You sent a memo on Oct. 4, 2021 directing the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s offices to address ‘harassment’ of school boards, yes or no?” Roy asked. 

“I sent a memo to address violence and threats of violence in connection with school personnel–” Garland answered. 

“Directed at school boards,” Roy interjected. 

“Not directed at school boards. Directed at school personnel, school administrators…” Garland responded.

“Throughout the country as a priority for the federal government…that followed a letter on Sept. 29, 2021 from the National School Board Association to President Biden…to the White House in which the White House asked for specific threats, and one of the examples was Scott Smith,” Roy said.

Smith, as Townhall previously reported, is a father in Loudoun County, Virginia who made headlines after he was removed from a Loudoun County school board meeting to speak out about the fact that his daughter was sexually assaulted by “a boy wearing a skirt” in a girls’ school bathroom.

Roy asked Garland if he agreed with GOP Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s decision to pardon Smith. Garland did not answer, saying he did not know the facts of the case.

“Have you rescinded the October 4, 2021 memo that you issued directing federal law enforcement to target concerned parents?” Roy asked. 

Garland said that there’s “nothing to rescind” since the amount of time that has passed since the memo came out. 

“Have you apologized for putting that memo out that implicated Scott Smith as a domestic terrorist, something the governor of Virginia has now pardoned him for all of these accusations?” Roy asked. 

“The memo said nothing about him, nothing about parents being terrorists….” Garland said, not answering the question.