Explosive new documents show the Biden Justice Department actively searched for a way to justify sending federal law enforcement after parents who spoke out about their kids’ education, despite knowing those parents were protected by the First Amendment.
The documents, obtained by America First Legal (AFL), show Department of Justice officials scrambling behind the scenes just days before former Attorney General Merrick Garland’s infamous October 4, 2021, memo labeling concerned parents as potential “domestic terrorists,” The Federalist reported.
“We’re aware; the challenge here is finding a federal hook,” wrote Kevin Chambers, then an associate deputy attorney general, in an October 1 email. “But WH has been in touch about whether we can assist in some form or fashion.”
That message came as the Biden White House was coordinating with the National School Boards Association (NSBA) to craft a letter asking the Department of Justice to crack down on parents opposed to COVID mandates, critical race theory, and gender ideology in schools — many of whom were already organizing through grassroots efforts and speaking out in viral videos across the country.
Career Department of Justice staff at the time raised red flags, saying there was no legal basis for federal involvement and that most parental speech was constitutionally protected. Some officials even warned that the majority of cited incidents had nothing to do with threats or violence and instead involved nothing more than passionate dissent at public meetings.
AFL says the newly released emails complete the timeline of what it calls a coordinated effort between the Biden administration, DOJ, and NSBA “to deprive parents of two fundamental rights — the right to speak, and the right to direct the upbringing of their children,” according to AFL president Gene Hamilton.
“They did so with political intentions,” Hamilton said, “most immediately by attempting to influence the Virginia gubernatorial election, and to more broadly chill dissent across the United States.”
The internal scramble continued into the weekend. On Saturday, October 2, Sparkle Sooknanan — then in the associate attorney general’s office and now a Biden-appointed federal judge — asked if the Civil Rights Division could help respond to the NSBA letter.
By Saturday night, DOJ staff admitted there wasn’t much to go on. A Civil Rights Division attorney wrote on Sunday that the effort was “ramping up an awful lot of federal manpower for what is currently a non-federal conduct.”
“It appears to me that the vast, vast majority of the behavior cited cannot be reached by federal law,” the attorney wrote. “Almost all of the language being used is protected by the First Amendment.”
The memo went out anyway.
By Monday morning, Garland’s draft memo had been finalized and distributed. By 9:16 a.m., DOJ officials were circulating the memo internally, and shortly after, it was sent out to FBI offices, U.S. attorneys, and law enforcement across the country — mobilizing federal forces against parents.
One DOJ staffer even floated using the FACE Act — the same law used to prosecute pro-life protesters — to go after parents who physically protested school policies.
Ian Prior, senior advisor to AFL, called it “one of the most scandalous attempts to deprive Americans of their rights in the history of our republic.”
“When the great awakening of parents occurred in 2021, the Biden Administration was desperate to put a stop to it before it could impact the Virginia gubernatorial election,” Prior said. “Instead, anyone with half a brain could see the unfathomable scandal unfolding.”
He added, “Parents refused to surrender their rights — rights which are now being so forcefully defended and jealously guarded by the Trump Administration and vindicated by the United States Supreme Court.”