General Pam Bondi quietly rescinded a controversial school board memo by referencing a little-noticed footnote, effectively undoing a Biden-era directive that had instructed the Justice Department and FBI to investigate outspoken parents for alleged threats. The move by President Donald Trump’s top law enforcement official reverses the October 2021 memo issued by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland, which sparked intense backlash and was strongly opposed by Republicans.
Bondi announced the creation of a “Weaponization Working Group” which will examine, among other things, the Biden DOJ’s “investigation of parents of school children who expressed sincere, good-faith concerns at local government meetings.” In a largely-overlooked footnote, she also wrote that “for the avoidance of doubt, former Attorney General Garland’s October 4, 2021, Memorandum is hereby rescinded.” Garland’s directive was revoked quietly in Bondi’s memo on February 5, the day after the Senate confirmed her, Just the News reported.
Jim Jordan, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, disclosed whistleblower evidence in November 2021 indicating that FBI counterterrorism resources were involved in investigating parents who protested school policies. The Ohio Republican has dedicated years to investigating the controversial actions of the Biden Department of Justice. “Attorney General Bondi’s repeal of Merrick Garland’s weaponized school boards memo is a huge win for parents and the rule of law,” Jordan told Just The News.
Garland’s October 2021 memo had alleged there had been a “disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff who participate in the vital work of running our nation’s public schools.” It said the DOJ will “discourage these threats, identify them when they occur, and prosecute them when appropriate.”
The Biden DOJ memo was partly driven by a September 2021 letter from the National School Boards Association (NSBA), which urged then-President Joe Biden to classify certain parent protests as “domestic terrorism and hate crimes.” The NSBA also called on the DOJ to consider whether the Patriot Act could be used to investigate and address these actions.
Internal emails from the NSBA, released by the Parents Defending Education activist group, reveal that top NSBA officials had been in communication with the Biden White House while drafting the letter. The letter, which urged federal action against outspoken parents, was co-signed by NSBA President Viola Garcia and Interim Director and CEO Chip Slaven before being sent to then-President Joe Biden.
“We’re immensely grateful that on Attorney General Bondi’s first day in office, she did what Merrick Garland refused to do: rescinding DOJ’s reprehensible 2021 memo directing federal law enforcement to devote its finite resources in pursuit of American parents,” Nicki Neily, president of Parents Defending Education, told Just The News. “For four years, families were chilled from participating in politics because of the Sword of Damocles hanging over our heads, so it’s a tremendous relief that this sorry chapter is finally closed.”
While Garland’s memo did not explicitly mention the National Security Division, which handles terrorism and national security threats, the Biden DOJ’s press release at the time did, identifying it as part of a newly formed DOJ task force. This task force also included representatives from the DOJ’s Criminal Division, the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, and the FBI. Later in October 2021, the Biden DOJ issued a follow-up directive, pressuring all U.S. Attorneys’ Offices to hold meetings with local law enforcement and FBI officials to address what it described as an emerging threat from outspoken parents.