RALEIGH — New documents obtained by America First Legal show the Biden White House coordinated on former Attorney General Merrick Garland’s memo targeting parents who protested at school board meetings.
On July 18, America First Legal (AFL) released documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request detailing the events surrounding the October 2021 parent memo issued by Garland.
“The Biden Administration appears to have engaged in a conspiracy that was ultimately aimed at depriving parents of two fundamental rights — the right to speak, and the right to direct the upbringing of their children,” AFL President Gene Hamilton said in a press release. “They did so with political intentions, most immediately by attempting to influence the Virginia gubernatorial election, and to more broadly chill dissent across the United States.”
The Garland parent memo was based on a letter from the National School Board Association, which referred to alleged threats to school board members and labeled some parents as potential “domestic terrorists.”
The FOIA documents show coordination over the Garland parent memo by the White House, under then-President Joe Biden, while bypassing objections of longtime U.S. Department of Justice staffers.
The National School Boards Association (NSBA) sent a letter on Sept. 29, 2021, to Biden requesting federal intervention, including invoking the Patriot Act, to address perceived threats from parents protesting at school board meetings.
The NSBA letter was prompted by concerns over parent backlash against polarizing educational policies — such as critical race theory (CRT), diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and gender identity — rather than COVID-related protests.
On July 15 of that year, NSBA Interim Executive Director Chip Slaven reported focusing on countering critics of CRT and transgender policies, noting “hostile situations” for school board members.
By Sept. 9, Slaven had directed Deborah Rigsby, NSBA’s director for federal legislation, via Jane Mellow, to draft the letter to Biden requesting a threat assessment. Slaven, Rigsby and Mellow finalized the letter Sept. 17, removing a section requesting National Guard and military police deployment to school board meetings.
Mary Wall, White House senior adviser to the president, requested an advance copy of the letter for White House and U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ) colleagues on Sept. 21.
Slaven sent the finalized letter to Biden on Sept. 29, which also went to Wall and top Biden advisers Julie Rodriguez, Katherine Pantangco, Aaliyah Samuel and Kimberly Watkins-Foote.
The FOIA documents show that on Oct. 1, Tamara Matthews-Johnson, a top aide to Garland, forwarded NSBA letter-related press clips to Kevin Chambers in the Deputy Attorney General’s Office, checking if he was aware of the letter.
Within 35 minutes, Chambers responded, noting the challenge of finding a “federal hook” but confirming White House inquiries about DOJ assistance.
A day later, Sparkle Sooknanan, who then worked in the Associate Attorney General’s Office, emailed Civil Rights Division (OCR) attorneys requesting a weekend turnaround to identify enforceable authorities to address the issue. Biden later appointed Sooknanan to the Washington, D.C., federal district court.
Robert Moossy, a 30-year veteran attorney in the OCR, responded that he read the NSBA letter and wrote, “It appears to me that the vast, vast majority of the behavior cited cannot be reached by federal law,” that most of the language used is protected by the First Amendment, and disruptions to school board meetings were covered by local trespass laws.
“So it seems that we are ramping up an awful lot of federal manpower for what is currently non-federal conduct,” Moossy wrote. “If they want to have an impact, maybe they could try to fashion something like the FACE Act for schools and school meetings, criminalizing physical obstruction of schools and school board meetings. “
The FACE Act refers to the federal law banning interference with anyone seeking or providing reproductive health services, or activities that interfere with religious worship.
Despite these concerns, Deputy Attorney General’s Office staffer Myesha Braden circulated an amended draft memo at 9:12 a.m. on Oct. 4, removing election integrity language after the Criminal Division objected, worried that including it could appear partisan.
Four minutes later, Shaylyn Cochran from the OCR shared the draft with Moossy and others, asking for concerns. Later that day, the Department of Justice published Garland’s memo, directing the FBI, U.S. Attorneys and law enforcement to address threats against school officials.
On Oct. 5, Biden called Slaven and NSBA President Viola Garcia to thank them for the letter. A few weeks later, Garcia was appointed to the National Assessment Governing Board by then-Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.
Backlash to Garland’s parent memo ensued, and by Oct. 22, the NSBA had issued an apology, renouncing and removing the letter from its website.
The AFL FOIA documents are additional confirmation to a May 2022 report released by an NSBA-hired law firm that showed the Biden White House and USDOJ’s involvement in the letter’s development. That report noted White House officials, including Wall, had advanced knowledge and discussed the letter with USDOJ officials before its finalization.
Garland refused to rescind the letter despite pressure from Congressional Republicans, and no apology was issued. Under Garland, the USDOJ opened 25 assessments based on a tip line set up, but only one investigation was initiated. There have been no prosecutions.
Following the election of President Donald Trump, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi revoked the Garland parent memo this Feb. 5. Bondi’s revocation cited the memo’s inappropriate targeting of parents expressing good-faith concerns at local government meetings.
