![]() ![]() ![]() Grassley also asked Sanborn if the FBI’s counterterrorism division was tracking school board cases and if she believed this was improper, and she too downplayed her role. While Garland's memo did not mention DOJ's National Security Division, the accompanying DOJ press release named it, along with the FBI, as part of DOJ’s new task force. Garland wouldn't distance himself from his memo during Senate Judiciary Committee testimony late last year, arguing the NSBA’s follow-up apology “does not change the association’s concern about violence and threats of violence.” NSBA ended up withdrawing and apologizing for the letter.Ī newly unearthed email exchange between an NSBA board member and the NSBA’s treasurer claimed that the letter was written in response to “a request by” Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. Garland revealed that DOJ and the White House communicated about the NSBA letter before he issued his memo, and emails from the NSBA showed it was in touch with the White House prior to publishing. Olsen also announced the creation of a new “domestic terrorism unit” during testimony focused on the domestic terrorism threat after the Capitol riot. “The national security division, for its part, is providing an advisory role supporting the department, making sure that when there may be a case that would rise to the level of one where we have some role to play that we are there to support the rest of the department, but certainly not a particular focus for the national security division nor do I have any anticipation that it would be.” “There has been an increase in violence and threats of violence against individuals who serve in positions of public trust - school board members, teachers, other public officials - and this is a serious concern, and it’s a concern that I share,” Olsen said. Olsen insisted that nothing was deterring DOJ’s focus on combating terrorism but downplayed his efforts related to the memo. ![]() ![]() Grassley asked Olsen what the DOJ national security division was doing related to school boards. Chuck Grassley told Olsen on Tuesday, “Your division has a very big job keeping track of both domestic terrorism and international terrorism, so I was surprised to see the attorney general think that your division should redirect time from those threats to policing matters of local school boards” and said that the DOJ effort had a “chilling effect on freedom of speech and the freedom to petition your government.” Garland's early October directive was released a few days after the National School Boards Association argued to President Joe Biden that “the classification of these heinous actions could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes” and called upon DOJ to review whether the Patriot Act “in regards to domestic terrorism” could be deployed.ĮDUCATION SECRETARY MIGUEL CARDONA UNDER FIRE FOR SOLICITING PARENTS-AS-TERRORISTS LETTER ![]()
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