Republican Leader Mitch McConnell sent a scathing letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland today, criticizing a memo released by the DOJ earlier this week which announced the DOJ would start investigating parents that are raising concerns about the education of their children at local school board meetings. It's clear that Biden's DOJ thinks parents don't have the right to push back on taxpayer-funded schools that are teaching children Critical Race Theory and giving minors access to disturbing content.
Fox News reported earlier this week:
The Justice Department (DOJ) is facing a wave of backlash as parents criticize its recent decision to investigate potential acts of violence against school boards across the country. . .
Garland himself did not explicitly mention domestic terrorism but did notify the public that he was working with the FBI to look into the issue. . .
The NASB, however, asked the Biden administration to consider its powers under the Patriot Act, the sweeping surveillance legislation passed in the aftermath of the attacks on September 11.
The memo "came after the National School Boards Association (NSBA) asked the Biden administration for assistance, suggesting that the threats and acts of violence were similar to domestic terrorism." https://t.co/SA2Flyfzv2
— RNLA ⚖️ (@TheRepLawyer) October 6, 2021
In his letter, Leader McConnell wrote:
I am concerned by your memorandum of October 4, 2021, regarding parental schoolboard protests. In it you directed federal law enforcement to partner with state and local governments to address "threats of violence, and other forms of intimidation and harassment" of "school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff' in public schools. The memorandum purports to respond to a "disturbing spike" in threats and harassment against these officials although it's silent as to the supposed perpetrators or any actual predicates for this action.
Your memorandum's ominous rhetoric doesn't reflect the reality of what we have seen at schoolboards across the country in recent months.
Parents absolutely should be telling their local schools what to teach. This is the very basis of representative government. They do this both in elections and-as protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution-while petitioning their government for redress of grievance. Telling elected officials they're wrong is democracy, not intimidation.
I hope you will agree with me that the kind of grassroots interest parents have shown throughout the country in both the methods and substance of their children's education is to be commended and encouraged. It's not a Democratic or Republican issue, but a democratic and republican one.
Leader McConnell joins other Republicans in criticism of the DOJ memo.
Sen. Hawley excoriates President Biden for weaponizing the DOJ against parents by using FBI to silence themhttps://t.co/FRzGrbRsjY
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) October 6, 2021
NEW → @SenJudiciaryGOP members push back on @TheJusticeDept’s crackdown on free speech of parents protesting school boards.
— Senate Judiciary Republicans (@SenJudiciaryGOP) October 7, 2021
Check out more here:https://t.co/SE4II0FgRd
President Biden's latest decision is part of a disturbing trend in the Democrat Party to silence parents.
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) October 5, 2021
We should encourage family participation in our schools, not baselessly attack opposing views because leftist groups want control over curriculums.https://t.co/mxmLXrXNzA
The DOJ memo is yet another example of the Biden Administration's extreme executive overreach, seeking now to limit parents' say in what their children are being taught.