DOJ officials called Garland memo targeting parents ‘stupid’ and ‘political’
Internal DOJ emails obtained by Fox News reveal officials’ serious concerns about the Merrick Garland memo from 2021. One employee suggested renaming the directive the ‘Anti-MAGA Task Force,’ highlighting its perceived political nature. The memo targeted parents who spoke out at school board meetings regarding COVID-19 rules and critical race theory.
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A controversial memo issued by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2021 aimed at addressing the alleged threat posed to school boards by dissatisfied parents caused an internal revolt at the Justice Department, according to documents obtained by Fox News.
As parents across the nation took to school board meetings to vent their dissatisfaction with COVID-era learning restrictions as well as how race and gender were being taught in classrooms, the National Association for School Boards appealed to the Justice Department for assistance, claiming that some actions taken by angry parents could be classified as “domestic terrorism.”
The Justice Department in October 2021 issued a memo to coordinate a response to what the department described as an “increase in harassment, intimidation and threats of violence against school board members, teachers and workers in our nation’s public schools” by parents.
Newly released emails, however, indicate that high-ranking officials at the DOJ were skeptical of this move, predicting that it could transform into a political headache for the Biden administration.
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Attorney General Merrick Garland takes questions during a news conference at the Department of Justice Building in Washington, D.C., on May 23, 2024. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit seeking to break up Live Nation, alleging the Ticketmaster parent company violated antitrust laws and harmed consumers. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
“I don’t think it’s possible to state how strongly I object to this. It will completely and totally nuke our election threats efforts, and will damage the reputation of the Public Integrity Section into the bargain,” one deputy assistant attorney general wrote on an internal email chain. “It’s like they’ve affirmatively trying to make this thing not work and look political.”
“If they do this, they might as well rename the damn thing the Anti-MAGA Task Force,” they continued.
“Exactly!” the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section chief responded. “Stupid, stupid, stupid.”
Some at the DOJ also questioned whether or not the agency had the authority to address purported threats to school board members in the way that was being proposed.
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US Attorney General Merrick Garland addresses staff on his first day at the US Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., on March 11, 2021. Garland was confirmed by the Senate with a 70-30 vote on March 10. (Kevin Dietsch/AFP)
“We will not do this,” one principal deputy assistant attorney general wrote. “There is no conceivable connection to [public integrity] (indeed, I’m not seeing a federal interest of any kind.). And if they’re going to make the AG’s memo to the field about this and election threats, I’m going to strongly recommend that they not send it.”
The Public Integrity section chief chimed in that the memo could turn the Justice Department and the FBI into the “threat police” and that it contained “no limiting principle at all.”
After sparking a firestorm of criticism from GOP lawmakers, state officials, pundits and parents’ groups, the NSAB formally apologized for its letter to the Biden administration calling for legal scrutiny to apply to disgruntled parents.
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Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 12, 2024, praising the department’s staff amid ongoing political accusations. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg)
“On behalf of NSBA, we regret and apologize for the letter,” the organization wrote in a memo to its members. “There was no justification for some of the language included in the letter. We should have had a better process in place to allow for consultation on a communication of this significance. We apologize also for the strain and stress this situation has caused you and your organizations.”
Though Garland was pressed to retract his memo or apologize, he instead opted to defend his decision.
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“The obligation of the Justice Department is to protect the American people against violence and threats of violence and that particularly includes public officials,” he said of the memo.
The DOJ and Garland did not respond to requests for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Friday.
Fox News’ David Spunt and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.
