McConnell slams Garland over memo from school board, says parents’ protests are “democracy, not bullying”

FIRST ON FOX: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday asking him to clarify the meaning of his recent memo on “harassment” and “bullying” of school officials by parents, including whether the election recall efforts constitute intimidation that should be investigated by the police.

The letter follows days of outrage at the attorney general’s memo, which came shortly after a letter from the National School Boards Association (NSBA) to President Biden, alleging some rhetorical clashes between school boards and parents could be compared to “domestic terrorism”.

Garland’s memo asked the FBI to lead a task force to tackle threats against school officials, including creating a centralized way to report such threats.

“‘[Y]e called on federal law enforcement to partner with state and local governments to address “threats of violence and other forms of intimidation and harassment” from “school administrators, school board members”. administration, teachers and staff “in public schools”, McConnell, R-Ky. “The memorandum purports to respond to a ‘disturbing spike’ in threats and harassment against these officials – although it does not cite the alleged perpetrators or the actual predicates of this action.”

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McConnell added: “The menacing rhetoric in your memorandum does not reflect the reality of what we have seen in school boards across the country in recent months.”

The Minority Leader is far from the first Republican elected official to attack Garland over the timing and tone of his letter. Senator Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Said earlier this week that Garland’s memo was simply an effort to prosecute opponents of critical race theory. Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., Meanwhile called Garland’s memo a “politically motivated abuse of power.”

But the fact that the top Republican in the U.S. Senate also weighs in indicates that the GOP will not let this issue fade into the background, and Justice Department officials appearing before Congress can likely be expected to do. faced with tough questions about Critical Race Theory and this memo for some time.

McConnell continues in the letter to condemn “violence, threats of violence and other criminal behavior” as “always objectionable” – including the few times this year police have had to get involved to contain unruly parents at meetings of the school council. But, McConnell said, widespread outrage against critical race theory is not something law enforcement should be involved in monitoring.

“Parents should definitely tell their local schools what to teach. This is the very basis of representative government,” McConnell said. “They do this both in elections and – as the First Amendment to the Constitution protects – when they ask their government to seek redress. Telling elected officials that they are wrong is democracy, not intimidation.

McConnell further raised concerns about the work of critical supporters of racial theory to prosecute the same parents Republicans believe are targets of Garland’s memo. He specifically noted that an official in Loudon County, Va., Was a member of a Facebook group that discussed pirating parenting websites, while another was “a member of a group seeking ‘doxx ‘worried parents’.

McConnell also asks if Garland’s office consulted with anyone from the NSBA, the group whose letter to Biden is generally believed to have been the source of Garland’s note.

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Justice Department officials defended Garland’s note in several Senate hearings this week. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, interviewed by Hawley, said the memo only addressed violence and threats of violence, and it was the role of the FBI to respond to those threats.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a separate hearing that the Justice Department does not view parents as a threat and that the attorney general’s note only focused on threats and intimidation.

“The First Amendment is a core value of our democracy,” Clarke said. “The attorney general’s note deals with threats against public officials and says that threats against public officials are not only illegal, they go against the core values ​​of our country.”

She further clarified that she does not believe parents who oppose school board meetings are national terrorists.

Fox News’ Liz Friden contributed to this report.