'Trump's DOJ was political? Are you kidding?' Republicans grill Biden's AG Merrick Garland as he defends FBI school board memo, insists parents are entitled to protest and denies calling them domestic terrorists

 Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee are tearing into Biden's Attorney General Merrick Garland at his first appearance before the panel on Thursday.  

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) kicked off Garland's hearing on a raucous note with an opening statement attacking Garland and his Democratic colleagues. 

'The chairman just said Trump's DOJ was political. Are you kidding me?' Jordan asked in response to Chair Rep. Jerry Nadler's opening statement.

He accused the DOJ of 'opening a snitch line on parents' with his memo announcing a crackdown on school board meeting incidents and giving lawmakers who asked about it 'the finger.'

'Republicans on this committee have sent the Attorney General 13 letters in the last six months,' he said. 'Eight of the letters, we've got nothing - they just gave us the finger.' 

'Folks all around the country, they tell me, for the first time they are afraid of their government.' 

Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) pressed Garland on allegations that a 'boy wearing a skirt' raped and sexually harassed two girls at two different Loudoun County high schools, though Garland denied having knowledge of the case.

Asked whether the FBI was investigating the matter Garland said, 'I don't believe so but I don't know.' 

Videos of the alleged victim's father being violently restrained by law enforcement at a Loudoun County schoolboard meeting after speaking out in fury went viral and sparked Republican outrage. 

'Attorney General do you believe that a father attending a meeting exercising his First Amendment rights and yes, getting angry, about whatever lies are being told about his daughter getting raped at the school he sent her to be educated in, that this is domestic terrorism - yes or no?' Roy asked.

Garland, visibly weary, replied: 'No, I do not think people getting angry at schoolboards for whatever reason constitute domestic terrorism. It's not even a close question.' 

Jordan tears into AG Garland for sending FBI into school boards
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Jordan blasted Garland's memo on school board protests as a 'snitch line'

Twice during the chaotic hearing, House Judiciary Chair Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) urged House lawmakers to wear masks when they were not speaking. 

Earlier this month Garland issued a memo directing the FBI to work with law enforcement to crack down on a rising number of violent incidents at school board meetings and education settings. The normally apolitical field has become an ideological battleground as parents express outrage at mask mandates and critical race theory being taught in schools.

He wrote the memo after a letter from the National School Boards Association compared those parents to domestic terrorists. 

In his opening remarks Jordan cited a line in Garland's order establishing 'dedicated lines of communication for threat reporting' to discuss the matter.

'A snitch line on parents, started five days after a left wing political organization asked for it. If that's not political I don't know what is,' he said. 'Where's the dedicated lines of communication with local leaders regarding our southern border?'

Reps. Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Green, not House Judiciary members, were seen in the audience

Reps. Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Green, not House Judiciary members, were seen in the audience

'Nope, can't do that, the Biden Justice Department is going to go after parents who object to some racist, hate-American curriculum.'

Decorum in the House hearing chamber broke down soon after when the Ohio Republican attempted to show a video of school board meetings - that Democrats claim was against the rules to show.

'What are you afraid of?' Republican lawmakers questioned during the heated moment. 

Jordan accused Nadler of 'censoring' him for not allowing the video. 

Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT), a Trump ally and former NFL star, asked if Garland supported the comparison between domestic terrorism and parents' school board protests.

Garland said the DOJ was only concerned about 'violence and threats of violence.' 

'We are not investigating peaceful protests,' he said.

Burgess also attacked CRT and said parents should be encouraged to weigh in on public school curricula. 

'We do not expect, nor will we tolerate, leftist teaching of our children behind our backs, the evil of CRT, how to hate our country and hate others based on skin color,' he said.

At another point Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) accused Garland of 'trampling on the rights of parents.' 

Later on Jordan asked Garland if FBI agents would be attending public school board meetings, which the stunned Biden official denied. 

Rep. Madeleine Dean objected to Jordan playing a video during his opening statement, claiming it ran afoul of the committee's hearing rules

Rep. Madeleine Dean objected to Jordan playing a video during his opening statement, claiming it ran afoul of the committee's hearing rules

Jordan and other Republican representatives were asked several times to wear their masks when not speaking

Jordan and other Republican representatives were asked several times to wear their masks when not speaking

GOP video of school board protests banned from Garland hearing
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'I want to be as clear as I can be: This is not about what happens inside schoolboard meetings. This is only about threats of violence,' Garland said of his memo. 

At another point Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) grilled Garland on his son-in-law, who founded a company called Panorama Education that allegedly utilizes CRT teachings.

Johnson accused Garland of a conflict of interest by cracking down on anti-CRT parents.

'Did you seek ethical guidance before you issued a letter that promotes the financial interests of your family?' he asked.

Garland denied that his memo had anything to do with the controversial theory. 

He also flatly denied any ethics violations, snapping at Johnson that he was 'exquisitely aware of the ethics requirements.'

'But you didn't follow them,' Johnson shot back.  

At another point, Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC) questioned whether meetings between local and federal law enforcement that he directed to occur within '30 days' of issuing his memo were actually occuring.

Garland again failed to provide a direct answer, claiming he hoped the directive was being carried out.

'I don't know whether they're ongoing but I expect and hope that they are going,' he said. 'I doubt there have been meetings in every jurisdiction.'

Bishop replied, 'Doesn't that make it worse, Mr. Attorney General, if you don't even know if these meetings that you directed urgently to occur, are occurring?'

'What is left indeed of the memo, except that your use of federal law enforcement moral authority to stigmatize widespread movement of first amendment activity, at least a significant portion of which is directed on the ideology by which your son-in-law makes a living?'

During the chaotic hearing Donald Trump chimed in with an emailed statement from his Save America PAC.

'The insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!' he wrote.  

In his opening statement Garland condemned the Capitol rioters and swore to fight for civil rights

In his opening statement Garland condemned the Capitol rioters and swore to fight for civil rights

The hearing got off to a contentious start, with Republicans accusing Democrats of censorship

The hearing got off to a contentious start, with Republicans accusing Democrats of censorship

In his own opening, House Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler (D-NY) attacked the rioters themselves and took an indirect swipe at his Republican colleagues.

'This growth in extremist ideology is echoed in an epidemic of violence and intimidation directed at our health care professionals, teachers, essential workers, school board members and election workers,' Nadler said.

He claimed there was a 'broader pattern' that led to increased violence across the country - from the riot, to increased attacks against Asian Americans during the pandemic, to 'the growing threats of violence against public servants.'

'The same set of individuals have leveraged the same sorts of misinformation, stoked the same sorts of grievances and shown remarkably little interest in solving our problems,' Nadler said.

He told Garland at the hearing: 'You must build back everything DOJ lost under the last administration.'  

The hearing comes at a tense moment for Garland's DOJ. House Democrats have been calling on him to enforce the January 6 committee's subpoenas, particularly after the House's planned vote to hold Steve Bannon in criminal contempt on Thursday. 

Asked about the possibility of prosecuting Bannon, Garland said: 'If the House of Representatives votes for referral of the contempt charge, the Department of Justice will do what it always does in such circumstances - apply the facts of the law and make a decision consistent with the principles of prosecution.'


Protestors storm inside the US Capitol, Washington DC, on January 6 2021

Protestors storm inside the US Capitol, Washington DC, on January 6 2021


Republican lawmakers and governors have also attacked the DOJ for the legal battle it's waging against Texas' restrictive new abortion law, with many accusing the Biden administration of overstepping its boundaries.

Nadler said: 'It is a dangerous law that is repugnant to the Constitution, and I thank you for the department's swift action to protect these rights.' 

And the DOJ is also being blamed for inflaming tensions at already-heated public school situations across the country. 

An escalation in violent protests at school board meetings and outside education officials' homes over CRT and mask-wearing prompted Garland to issue a DOJ order  directing the FBI and local law enforcement to tackle the 'disturbing trend' of teachers being threatened or harassed.   

A number of top Republicans, including Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, have written letters to Garland expressing their anger at the move.

But at the hearing on Thursday, Nadler told Garland he was 'right' to direct the FBI in its crackdown. 

In his opening statement, Attorney General Merrick Garland defended the Biden Justice Department's prosecution of January 6 participants' 'intolerable assault' on the US Capitol on Thursday. 

Garland lauded prosecutors' efforts in what he calls 'one of the largest and most expansive' operations in US history, according to Garland's prepared remarks obtained by Axios

Democrats, meanwhile, are expected to connect violent Trump supporters' 'extremist ideology' to the increased tensions at school boards and education settings across the country. 

'The violence we witnessed that day was an intolerable assault, not only on the Capitol and the brave law enforcement personnel who sought to protect it, but also on a fundamental element of our democracy: the peaceful transfer of power,' he will say.

'I have great confidence in the prosecutors who are undertaking these cases. They are doing exactly what they are expected to do: make careful determinations about the facts and the applicable law in each individual case.' 

To date roughly 650 people have been arrested in connection to the January 6 attack. The expansive investigation involves 55 out of 56 FBI field offices across the country. 

'Trump's DOJ was political? Are you kidding?' Republicans grill Biden's AG Merrick Garland as he defends FBI school board memo, insists parents are entitled to protest and denies calling them domestic terrorists 'Trump's DOJ was political? Are you kidding?' Republicans grill Biden's AG Merrick Garland as he defends FBI school board memo, insists parents are entitled to protest and denies calling them domestic terrorists Reviewed by Your Destination on October 21, 2021 Rating: 5

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