Internal memos shows justice dept had no legitimate basis to target parents

quote:

---

The Biden administration had “no legitimate basis” to deploy federal counterterrorism resources against parents who protested against local education officials, according to an interim report on Attorney General Merrick Garland’s 2021 school boards memo released by the House Judiciary Committee. Citing a trove of recently obtained documents, lawmakers behind Judiciary’s weaponization subcommittee probe into the controversial memo said the Biden administration “misused federal law-enforcement and counterterrorism resources for political purposes.” “The Justice Department’s own documents demonstrate that there was no compelling nationwide law-enforcement justification for the Attorney General’s directive or the Department components’ execution thereof,” the interim report reads. The panel released documents last week as part of the report. The documents show “strong negative reactions” to Mr. Garland’s memo by local law enforcement officials days after it was issued.

---

quote:

---

U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft of the Southern District of Illinois reported that Mr. Garland’s memo was “very poorly received” among local law enforcement officials, some of whom described the threats outlined in the memo as “a manufactured issue.” “No one I spoke with in law enforcement seemed to think that there is a serious national threat directed at school boards, which gave the impression that our priorities are misapplied,” Mr. Weinhoeft reported to DOJ headquarters. Some expressed concerns that the federal government was meddling in an area where it does not belong,” he added. Despite the lack of a compelling need for federal resources, the FBI acknowledged to the House panel that it opened 25 threat assessments known as “Guardian assessments” in response to concerns raised over threats against school boards, six of which were conducted but the FBI Counterterrorism Division. “These admissions supplement whistleblower disclosures about the FBI’s actions, including disclosures 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 committee said in Tuesday’s report. The lawmakers behind the report accused the Biden administration of attempting to silence critics of “its radical education policies.” Mr. Garland says he did not order parents investigated for expressing concern over their children’s education. He said he intended to root out “violence and threats of violence against a whole host of school personnel.” He acknowledged he was prompted “in part” by the NSBA letter, but said he was also reacting to news reports about violence.

---