The House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed the Biden administration, demanding FBI Director Christopher Wray, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona produce documents about the alleged targeting of parents at school board meetings.
Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) is demanding Garland, Wray, and Cardona turn over communications pertaining to the Justice Department’s alleged “misuse of federal criminal and counterterrorism resources” by 9 a.m. on March 1, according to the subpoenas dated Thursday and reviewed by the Washington Examiner.
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“Since October 2021, Judiciary Committee Republicans have sent over one hundred letters to Biden administration officials requesting answers about how the administration used federal counterterrorism resources against American parents,” the committee said in a press release.
At issue is an alleged Oct. 4, 2021, memo sent by Garland tasking the FBI to collaborate with U.S. attorneys and other local law enforcement to investigate potential threats from parents at school board meetings. At the time, large groups of parents across the country were protesting the instruction of so-called critical race theory and COVID-19 suppression measures.
“In recent months, there has been a disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff who participate in the vital work of running our nation’s public schools. While spirited debate about policy matters is protected under our Constitution, that protection does not extend to threats of violence,” the memo read.
Garland’s memo came on the heels of a National School Boards Association letter to him that outlined a slew of disruptive behavior that was not necessarily violent and called for the government to deploy aggressive measures such as the Patriot Act to curtail the disturbances. Later, the NSBA withdrew the letter and apologized for its provocative language.
During a hearing weeks after the release of the memo in the fall of 2021, Jordan grilled Garland about the memo and ascertained that the retracted NSBA letter that likened parents to domestic terrorists was the impetus for his memo.
JORDAN: “When did you first review the data showing this ‘so-called’ disturbing uptick” in violence directed against school boards?
GARLAND: “So I read the letter and we have been seeing over time…”
JORDAN: “So you read the letter. That’s your source?” pic.twitter.com/LYUyuozXtG
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) October 21, 2021
Jordan long decried what he calls the politicization of the DOJ and FBI. He has also teased that his committee has been collaborating with whistleblowers from the bureau who have raised concerns about potential wrongdoing at the upper levels of the FBI.
The FBI appeared to reject Jordan’s characterization of events but stressed it is working to comply with his demands.
“As Director Wray and other FBI officials have stated clearly on numerous occasions before Congress and elsewhere, the FBI has never been in the business of investigating speech or policing speech at school board meetings or anywhere else, and we never will be. Our focus is and always will be on protecting people from violence and threats of violence,” the FBI said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
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“Attempts to further any political narrative will not change those facts. The FBI recognizes the importance of congressional oversight and remains fully committed to cooperating with Congress’s oversight requests consistent with its constitutional and statutory responsibilities. The FBI is actively working to respond to congressional requests for information,” the bureau added.
Jordan has long signaled plans to turn up the heat on the DOJ and is using his newfound congressional powers to embark on a handful of investigations, including into President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents.
