DOJ Report Reveals 2021 Internal Revolt Over Garland School Board Memo

2 articles · Updated · Fox News · Oct 5

Hundreds of DOJ exhibits and emails released Monday show senior Justice Department and FBI officials objected to Merrick Garland’s October 2021 school board memo on free-speech, politicization and federal-jurisdiction grounds.
One deputy assistant attorney general said Garland could “rename the damn thing the Anti-MAGA Task Force,” while the Public Integrity Section chief called the proposal “stupid” and FBI officials warned parents could be broadly tagged as domestic terrorists.
The resistance continued after the Oct. 4, 2021 memo: an FBI lawyer said DOJ issued the accompanying press release without bureau coordination, and a senior FBI official said agents were “caught off guard” by a move “unilaterally pushed by DOJ.”
Garland’s memo followed a National School Boards Association appeal to the Biden administration during heated protests over masks, race and gender issues; the group later apologized for language likening some conduct to domestic terrorism.
The report argues the episode showed Biden-era coordination among DOJ, the White House and the school boards group to chill parental speech, though supporters of Garland’s approach cited real threats against some school officials in 2021.