As Landon reported on Friday, thirteen states have signed on to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit seeking FBI surveillance records related to crackdowns on parents protesting at school board meetings, especially in the wake of the pandemic. The lawsuit was first reported by Timothy HJ Nerozzi on Fox Newsled by Republican Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, and attacking President Joe Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, citing their failure to comply with FOIA requests.
In addition to Indiana, states include Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Utah.
Steve Gray, a former FBI agent who is running as a Republican to represent New Jersey’s 4th District, criticized his former employer’s attitude.
“The FBI’s job is to go out and stop real criminals, child molesters and real terrorists. Instead, it harasses hard-working parents who simply don’t want their children stuck in masks all day, indoctrinated with ideologies that are contrary to their values,” Gray noted in a statement to Townhall. He then called it “disgraceful” and “exactly what made me leave the FBI.”
“I did not sign up to be part of Joe Biden’s political agenda to enforce laws. And that, unfortunately, is what the FBI has become,” Gray continued.
“When it comes down to it, this is why I’m running for Congress. Too many Democrats – and, frankly, too many Republicans too – have allowed and even contributed to this. We need strong leaders who can step up and get this under control because what is happening is simply un-American,” he also shared.
As Townhall reports, parents were targeted and treated as “domestic terrorists” after the National School Boards Association (NSBA) sent a letter dated September 29, 2021, to President Joe Biden calling on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to exploit federal counterterrorism tools , even the Patriot Act to target these parents. NSBA and the White House coordinated activities regarding this letter. Later emails also revealed that it was Cardona who requested the letter.
Attorney General Merrick Garland distributed the memo just five days later, on October 4, 2021. Although the NSBA apologized, Garland did not rescind the memo and even doubled the amount.
The failure to address and respond to such attacks on parents is nothing up-to-date for the administration. Last week, Townhall got the first exclusive look at a letter signed by all 19 Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee that pointed out to Garland that they had not forgotten about the case.
The letter mentioned in part that since October, “Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee have sent nearly 100 letters to Department authorities requesting documents and information related to this investigation.”
Nerozzi also discusses in detail the demands of members of Congress that Art. Cardona will face consequences for the role he played:
Forty-one Republican lawmakers have demanded that Cardona resign over his apparent ties to the bombshell NSBA letter.
The letter was addressed to: Representative Lisa McClain of Michigan Bidenwho was first reached by Fox News, demanding that he “immediately fire” Cardona over the “now infamous letter.”
“In your inaugural address to the American people, you said, ‘overcoming these challenges – restoring the soul and securing America’s future – will take more than words. It requires that most elusive thing in democracy: unity,” the letter reads. “Later you said: ‘unity is the way forward’.”
Parental rights have been a major campaign issue in state and local elections.
Last November, Governor Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) made empowering parents to affirm their right to be involved in their children’s education an important part of his agenda. As the election approached, Youngkin overcame a polling deficit against former Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D-VA), who served from 2014 to 2018 and ran again in 2021, winning 50.6% of the vote to 48.6 % McAuliffe.
Exit polls from Fox News I found it 25 percent said critical race theory (CRT) was most important. Among those voters, 70 percent chose Youngkin. Additionally, 72 percent of voters said CRT was an “significant” issue.
Even in the heavily Democratic city of San Francisco, a robust majority earlier this month removed school board members who weren’t meeting their priorities.
The issue of parents’ rights is a priority for the entire House of Representatives. Last November, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) introduced “Parents’ Charter of Rights,” is a collaborative effort with Education and Labor Ranking Member Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA), Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT) and Republican Research Committee Chairman Jim Banks (R-UT) ). IN).
