RALEIGH — U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi rescinded a memo by her predecessor, Merrick Garland, that directed the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice to investigate parents who protested at school board meetings following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bondi’s memo, issued the day after her Feb. 4 confirmation by the Senate, outlines the creation of a Weaponization Working Group tasked with reviewing “the activities of all departments and agencies exercising civil or criminal enforcement authority of the United States over the last four years.”
The working group’s task list includes, “Prior Justice Department guidance, policy memoranda, and practices concerning the investigation of parents of school children who expressed sincere, good-faith concerns at local government meetings, including the October 4, 2021 memorandum of former Attorney General Merrick Garland regarding these issues.”
That task line item includes a footnote: “For the avoidance of doubt, former Attorney General Garland’s October 4, 2021, Memorandum is hereby rescinded.”
In addition to the Garland parent memo, items to be reviewed in Bondi’s memo include Special Counsel Jack Smith and law enforcement who performed the raid on President Donald Trump’s home, as well as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, New York Attorney General Letitia James and their respective staffs, and the “pursuit of improper investigative tactics and unethical prosecutions” relating to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Additionally, Bondi’s memo directs a review of a January 2023 FBI memo suggesting Catholic religious practices were affiliated with domestic terrorism, criminal prosecutions under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act and the targeting and persecution of whistleblowers.
Garland parent memo timeline
September 2021
Near the end of the month, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) sends a letter to President Joe Biden claiming parent protests could be the equivalent of “domestic terrorism and hate crimes” and suggests the Patriot Act could be deployed. Internal emails uncovered by Parents Defending Education later revealed NSBA officials had been consulting with the Biden administration about their letter for “several weeks” before it was made public.
October 2021
Attorney General Merrick Garland issues a memo on Oct. 4 directing the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI to investigate alleged threats against school officials while casting parents protesting at school board meetings as domestic terrorists.
A DOJ press release mentions forming a task force including the National Security Division, Criminal Division, Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys and FBI. The DOJ later issues a follow-up directive pressuring U.S. District Attorneys Offices to convene meetings with local law enforcement and the FBI to coordinate investigations into parents.
On Oct. 7, North Carolina Republican congressional members, along with some 30 other House Republicans, issued a letter to Garland and the DOJ demanding answers about law enforcement activities and the alleged threats referred to by Garland.
After national backlash, the NSBA disavowed its letter, stating, “We regret and apologize for the letter.” The NSBA then withdrew its letter to Biden, which subsequently disappears from the group’s website.
Following the NSBA’s reversal, Garland testifies in front of Congress that the NSBA’s apology letter did not change his position on his parent memo, but he did admit that the NSBA’s letter to Biden was the premise for the parent memo. It was later revealed that the NSBA was aware of Garland’s memo before its release.
November 2021
State affiliates of the NSBA, including North Carolina, begin withdrawing their membership in the organization. Surry County Commissioners go a step further, issuing a resolution condemning Garland’s parent memo.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan reveals whistleblower evidence suggesting FBI counterterrorism assets were involved in investigating parents using a threat tag called “EDUOFFICIALS.”
May 2022
A Republican House Judiciary letter to Garland questioned his past testimony. The letter reveals whistleblower claims of at least dozens of investigations into parents using the threat tag actively used by the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division to track investigations related to parents.
June 2022
The NSBA publishes a report on its own letter to Biden that prompted Garland’s parent memo. The report confirms that the Biden administration was directly involved in drafting the NSBA letter.
The report also says Biden personally called NSBA Board of Directors President Viola Garcia after the letter became public knowledge. By that time, Garcia had been appointed to the national board, which oversees the Nation’s Report Card — commonly referred to as “NAEP” — by Biden’s Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. Her appointment was announced Oct. 13, 2021.
April 2023
A U.S. House Judiciary subcommittee report finds ”no legitimate law-enforcement basis” for Garland’s parent memo. The report details stonewalling by the DOJ and FBI on the matter while detailing the Biden administration and NSBA “extensively colluded” before Garland issuing the memo in October 2021.
September 2023
Garland insists during a congressional hearing that the NSBA’s apology letter didn’t change his mind, telling lawmakers “there’s nothing to rescind” regarding his parent memo.
