House GOP claims Biden, DOJ 'colluded' in 'political offensive' against parents ahead of VA gov race

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Sen. Kennedy confronts AG Garland on DOJ memo: 'What did you think was going to happen?'

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee during a Wednesday hearing titled, "Oversight of the Department of Justice."

House Republicans are calling out the Biden administration and Attorney General Merrick Garland for a "dangerous" misuse of resources and "weaponization of law-enforcement powers against American parents exercising their First Amendment rights" during school board meetings.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and Select Subcommittee, released an interim report Tuesday regarding Garland's "misuse" of law enforcement and counterterrorism resources to target parents in 2021, in the months ahead of a close Virginia gubernatorial race eventually won by Republican Glenn Youngkin.

Republicans claim that, through documents obtained from subpoenaed Justice Department, FBI, and Education Department officials, the NSBA "colluded" with the Biden administration and Garland in "silencing the critics" of Democratic school board policies.

Among the findings, House Republicans mentioned that "the FBI investigated a mom because she belonged to a ‘right-wing mom’s group.’"

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Attorney General Merrick Garland testified to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. (Greg Nash)

House Republicans argued that "there was no legitimate law-enforcement basis for the Attorney General’s directive to use federal law-enforcement and counterterrorism resources to investigate school board-related threats."

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"Whistleblower disclosures and a report commissioned by the National School Boards Association (NSBA) shed some light on how the Biden Administration colluded with the NSBA to create a justification to use federal law-enforcement and counterterrorism resources against parents," Jordan's memo stated, adding that according to the documents retrieved during the investigation process, "it is apparent that the Biden Administration misused federal law-enforcement and counterterrorism resources for political purposes."

The Biden administration opened investigations into "threats" from parents towards school boards. (Drew Angerer/)

The report claimed there were "political motives" after disclosures reportedly revealed that "the FBI investigated a mom because she belonged to a "right-wing mom’s group" and "is a gun owner," and a dad because "he rails against the government." 

"The Administration’s goal seems to have been silencing the critics of its radical education policies and neutralizing an issue that was threatening Democrat Party prospects in the close gubernatorial race in Virginia," House Republicans wrote.

"This weaponization of law-enforcement powers against American parents exercising their First Amendment rights is dangerous," the report read. "The Justice Department subjected moms and dads to the opening of an FBI investigation about them, the establishment of an FBI case file that includes their political views, and the application of a ‘threat tag’ to their names as a direct result of their exercise of their fundamental constitutional right to speak and advocate for their children."

Representative Jim Jordan released a report revealing findings from an investigation into Garland's 2021 memorandum. (Ting Shen)

In September 2021, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) worked with the White House to develop a letter "urging the use of federal law-enforcement and counterterrorism tools, including the Patriot Act, against parents" in the midst of the heated Virginia governors race. Days later, Garland issued a controversial memorandum to investigate threats and place law enforcement officers in local school board meetings.

In October 2021, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee opened an investigation into the Biden administration’s use of federal law-enforcement resources toward parents pushing back against school board directives on COVID-19 and critical race theory (CRT).

On Wednesday, Garland was grilled on the memorandum by Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. 

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"Didn’t you understand the chilling effect that it would have [on] parents when you issued your directive? When you directed your criminal and counterterrorism divisions to investigate parents who were angry at school boards and administrators during COVID?" Kennedy asked, but Garland pushed back with claims that his memo clarified that parents’ First Amendment rights were protected.