Just revealed internal emails reportedly show that the National School Boards Association (NSBA) coordinated heavily with the White House and the Department of Justice (DOJ) over a controversial letter comparing concerned parents to domestic terrorists.
The NSBA letter sent on September 29th, requested an investigation into whether or not confrontations from outraged parents regarding mask mandates or Critical Race Theory (CRT) curricula amounted to a violation of the Patriot Act.
The group suggested that “the classification of these heinous actions could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.”
Shortly thereafter, Attorney General Merrick Garland distributed a memo that mobilized the FBI to address parents who ‘pose a threat’ at school board meetings.
The document addressed to federal prosecutors and FBI Director Christopher Wray centers attention on a purported “disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff.”
We sent a letter to President Biden this morning asking for federal assistance to stop threats and acts of violence against public schoolchildren, public school board members, and other public school district officials and educators: https://t.co/q6bHM0aawQ
— National School Boards Association | NSBA (@NSBAPublicEd) September 30, 2021
NSBA Coordinated With White House
The National School Boards Association would later backtrack on their letter accusing some parents of violence after it was revealed they had coordinated the effort with the White House.
The newly released internal emails show the depths that the NSBA and the White House coordinated their messaging.
Chip Slaven, an NSBA executive, and Viola Garcia, the NSBA president who was later named by the Biden Department of Education to a federal board overseeing student progress, may have “altered the text of the letter to satisfy the curiosity of White House staff” according to Fox News.
The NSBA had discussed the issues with the White House “for weeks” before sending the letter, the report reveals.
Two weeks prior to the release of the controversial letter, according to an emailed memo, “there had been a meeting with White House staff … and that NSBA was preparing to send a letter to the President.”
“Subsequently, on September 17, 2021, the interim Executive Director emailed notice to the state association executive directors that indicated a letter requesting federal assistance would be sent,” a memo indicates.
White House “actively engaged” with NSBA before “domestic terror” letter, an internal memo reveals.https://t.co/w8hNcoToVq
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) November 11, 2021
Garland Denied Letter Affected Policy
The internal emails appear to contradict testimony by AG Garland regarding the role of the NSBA letter in his formulation of the memo.
Garland, in an exchange with Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), insisted the DOJ memorandum did not rely upon the letter.
“The letter that was subsequently sent does not change the association’s concern of violence or threats of violence,” he said. “It alters some of the language in the letter … that we did not rely on and is not contained in my own memorandum.”
Senator Tom Cotton eviscerated Garland during testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in late October, expressing relief that the AG was never confirmed to the Supreme Court.
“This testimony, your directive, your performance is shameful,” Cotton said. “Thank God, you’re not on the Supreme Court. You should resign in disgrace, judge.”
holy shit pic.twitter.com/MRsXmbCkWQ
— Siraj Hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) October 27, 2021
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