Internal emails prove that there was coordination between the White House and DOJ before the National School Boards Association (NSBA) released its letter describing parents as “domestic terrorists”. The emails show that the letter was weeks in the making.

The letter wasn’t just some spontaneous reaction to some concerned parents heatedly speaking out at school board meetings. The NSBA sent the letter to Biden on September 29. Five days later, on October 4, the DOJ issued a memo directing law enforcement to investigate threats to school boards. The NSBA president, Viola Garcia, sent a memo to NSBA members on October 11 (though it was dated October 12) which provided a timeline pointing to coordination with the White House prior to the letter to Biden was sent. In other words, this was a well-coordinated attack at concerned parents who voiced opposition to the school curriculum and policies. Garcia’s timeline exposes that Attorney General Merrick Garland lied under oath to Congress when he said there was no coordination between DOJ and NSBA.

Parents Defending Education obtained internal emails through a FOIA request. Garcia, who has since been named to a federal board, points to a well-coordinated effort with various members of the Biden administration.

“Concern over the current climate for school board members is also a top priority as disruptions at school board meetings grow and members face growing threats,” Garcia wrote at the time, according to the memo obtained by Parents Defending Education through a Freedom of Information Act request. “NSBA has been actively engaged with the White House, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Education, Surgeon General, and other federal agencies on pandemic related issues.”

“In the September 14, 2021 meeting of the [NSBA Organization of State Association Executive Directors] liaison group, they were informed there had been a meeting with White House staff that morning 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.”

“In response to the letter sent by NSBA, on October 4, 2021 the Attorney General announced in a memorandum widely shared throughout the U.S. Department of Justice that he was ordering all U.S. Attorney Offices and local FBI offices to reach out to local and state law enforcement officials to coordinate efforts on this problem within 30 days of the memorandum,” Garcia also noted.

Even the Surgeon General was ok with the FBI going after parents for speaking out at school board meetings, apparently. The Biden administration has embraced 1984-style authoritarianism that hasn’t been seen before. When Garland announced that his office was taking on this issue, it was meant to intimidate parents, to put a stop to them exercising their rights as parents and members of the community. Garland lied when he said during a committee hearing in the Senate that DOJ didn’t rely on the letter for his decision. The NSBA issued an apology for labeling parents as domestic terrorists on October 22. Garland was asked about that apology.

This statement appears to contradict Attorney General Merrick Garland’s testimony to Congress on October 27. When Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., asked Garland if he had “second thoughts” following NSBA’s apology for the letter, he said that 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. It alters some of the language in the letter … that we did not rely on and is not contained in my own memorandum,” Garland said.

Fox News obtained another email that shows coordination efforts for weeks with the White House. Garcia and Chip Slaven, an NSBA executive, ended up altering the letter to include specific threats.

“In talks over the last several weeks with White House staff, they requested additional information on some of the specific threats, so the letter also details many of the incidents that have been occurring,” Slaven wrote in a September 29, 2021, email to the NSBA board of directors.

As the election in Virginia showed, education is a top concern for parents. Many parents have been educated on what is going on in schools and are appalled. Some states have terminated their memberships in NSBA as part of the fallout of the Biden White House’s overreach. Wyoming is the latest state to distance itself from the NSBA. Sending the DOJ to silence parents was a really dumb move. Parents are newly motivated to get involved in school board decisions. That’s a good thing.

Will Garland be held accountable for lying under oath? Nah. This is a Democrat administration. There’s nothing to see here, just move along. It is, however, one more opportunity for us to thank Mitch McConnell for keeping Merrick Garland off the Supreme Court.