Memo board4/19/2023 ![]() ![]() Neither responded before this article was published. NTD News reached out to the FBI and the DOJ regarding the documents AFL obtained. “We are not investigating peaceful protests or parent involvement in school board meetings,” Garland told Grassley and Cornyn in 2021. Garland insisted the DOJ was only seeking to stop violence and threats of violence. Garland said his memo “alters some of the language in the letter that we did not rely on.” “All it asks is for federal law enforcement to consult with, meet with local law enforcement to assess the circumstances, strategize about what may or may not be necessary to provide federal assistance, if it is necessary,” Garland said in response to questions at the time from Sen. The NSBA went on to retract its letter and said “there was no justification for some of the language included in the letter.” Despite that NSBA retraction, Garland continued to defend his decision to form the new DOJ task force. A Group of State Attorneys General sent a letter ( pdf) disputing the NSBA’s claims and arguing that the DOJ’s subsequent actions could be used as a pretext to chill lawful free speech. The NSBA letter and Garland’s subsequent decision to form a new task force to investigate disruptions at schools and school board meetings received pushback from Republican officials. The NSBA letter called on the DOJ to use its National Security and Counter-terrorism components to investigate these school board incidents and use counter-terrorism laws-like the PATRIOT Act-to prosecute them. 29, 2021-just days before Garland’s memo-the National School Boards Association (NSBA) sent a letter ( pdf) to President Joe Biden and the DOJ, raising concerns about disruptions to school board meetings and claiming the harassment they were experiencing was akin to domestic terrorism or hate crimes. The new task force came as parents had been protesting school boards around the country over their COVID-19 policies and the inclusion of critical race theory (CRT) principles in school curricula. 2021 Garland Memo Set Off ControversyĪt the time, Garland and the DOJ cited “an increase in harassment, intimidation and threats of violence against school board members, teachers and workers” in their decision to launch the new DOJ task force. The DOJ proceeded to publish Garland’s memo that day, along with a larger press statement describing the formation of a task force that would include the FBI and the DOJ’s Criminal, National Security, and Civil Rights Divisions. “I hope DOJ reconsiders,” Coakley added in her email.Īfter Coakley contacted him, Ellis raised the issue to Norman Wong, the then director of the DOJ’s Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA), writing “we are asking that the memo be revised,” to which Wong replied: “It’s a little too late.” Attorney for the District of South Carolina. Ellis was serving at the time as chief of staff for FBI Director Christopher Wray before Garland appointed him in December of that year to serve as the Interim U.S. “Not sure if you’ve seen this/weighed in-it was just raised to my attention,” Coakley wrote in an Oct. Department of Justice (DOJ) would reconsider their actions. The documents, which the America First Legal Foundation (AFL) recently obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, showed FBI attorney Miriam Coakley expressed her hope that Garland and the U.S. 4, 2021 memo that initiated a controversial federal effort to investigate alleged harassment at school board meetings around the country. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)ĭocuments the FBI recently released show that a lawyer for the agency expressed her reservations about a draft version of U.S. ![]() Kennedy Main Justice Building in Washington on Nov. Attorney General Merrick Garland (R) and FBI Director Christopher Wray hold a press conference at the Robert F. ![]()
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