Trump DOJ uses footnote to rescind Merrick Garland memo targeting parents as ‘domestic terrorists’
AG Bondi has dismissed a controversial memo from the Biden era that instructed FBI to police school board meetings. The National School Boards Association wrote to Garland comparing parent protesters with “domestic terrorism.”
A little-noticed note in the footnote of Pam Bondi’s memo rescinding a controversial school-board memo which had instructed the FBI and Justice Department during Biden’s tenure to investigate threats made by outspoken parents.
The memo of Merrick Garland, then Attorney General in October 2021, was widely criticized by Republicans and sparked a firestorm.
Bondi announced that she would be creating a “Weaponization Group”, which will examine the Biden DOJ investigation of parents who have expressed good-faith concerns to local governments. In a footnote, Bondi also stated, “For the avoidance doubt, former Attorney-General Garland’s October 4, 2020 Memorandum, is hereby rescinded.” Garland’s directive was revoked in Bondi’s memo of February 5, the day following her confirmation by Senate.
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Jim Jordan, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee in November 2021, released whistleblower information that showed FBI counterterrorism resources were involved in an investigation of parents protesting against school policies. Jordan spent years researching the controversial actions of the Biden DOJ. Jordan told Just The News that “Attorney Bondi’s repealing of Merrick Garland’s weaponized memo on school boards is a huge victory for parents and rule of law.”
“Forms of domestic terrorism”
Garland’s memo from October 2021 alleged that there was a “disturbing increase in harassment, threats of violence, and intimidation against school administrators and board members who are involved in the crucial work of running the nation’s schools”. It stated the DOJ would “discourage these threats, identify when they occur, prosecute when appropriate.”
The Biden DOJ Memo was prompted by a letter sent to President Biden in late September 2021 from the National School Boards Association. In the letter, the NSBA argued that the “classification of these heinous acts could be equivalent to a domestic terrorism or hate crime” and asked the DOJ to examine whether the Patriot Act can be used.
Emails from the NSBA, released by Parents Defending Education, show that top members of NSBA were in contact with Biden White House regarding the letter. The letter was signed by NSBA President Viola Garcia, Interim Director Chip Slaven and the CEO of the NSBA.
The “terrorist label” is no longer a threat to those who oppose it
Nicki Neily is the president of Parents Defending Education. She told Just The News that she was “extremely grateful” for Attorney General Bondi doing what Merrick G. Garland would not: rescinding DOJ’s reprehensible memo 2021 directing federal law-enforcement to dedicate its limited resources to pursue American parents. The Sword of Damocles has been hanging over families’ heads for four years. It is a huge relief that the chapter on this sad episode is now closed.
The National Security Division was not mentioned in Garland’s memo, but the Biden DOJ press release of the time included it, along with representatives from the Criminal Division and the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys and the FBI.
In October 2021, the Biden DOJ issued a second directive that urged all U.S. Attorneys Offices should convene meetings to discuss the threat with local law enforcement officials and FBI agents.
The NSBA apologized for its letter and said that it was “not justified” in some instances.
Garland: “I didn’t adopt every concern.”
Garland first testified before Congress that NSBA’s apology letter was not persuasive. “The language they disavow in the letter is language that I never included in my memorandum and would never have been. I didn’t adopt all of their concerns in the letter. “I adopted only my concern about violence or threats of violence. That hasn’t changed.”
Garland said later that “I cannot imagine any circumstances in which the Patriot Act could be used to the parents complaining about their child.”
Garland told Congress in September 2023, that there was “nothing to rescind”, in relation to his memo to school boards, and added, “The memo intended to have meetings in 30 days… The 30-day period has ended.” In more than a decade and a half, nothing has changed in that regard.
Bondi’s directive ensured the revocation of the Garland Memo, and now the actions taken by the Biden DOJ are being reviewed by the attorney general for the Trump administration.
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