Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) is demanding answers from the National School Boards Association (NSBA) regarding its “collusion” with the Biden administration to use federal law enforcement to investigate parents attending school board meetings as “domestic terrorists.”
In a letter obtained exclusively by Breitbart News, Jordan — who is the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee — points out that the NSBA’s original letter to President Joe Biden prompted a “rapid and stunning response … that culminated in a directive from the Attorney General for federal law enforcement to monitor school board matters.”
Jordan also pointed out in the letter that the NSBA and Biden administration sought to manufacture a reason for federal law enforcement to go after parents, saying, “We still have concerns about the NSBA’s collusion with the Biden Administration to develop a pretext for invoking federal law enforcement to intimidate and silence parents.” [Emphasis added].
The Ohio Republican has previously explained to Breitbart News that the tactic of developing a pretext to use federal resources to go after political opponents is not new.
“I think you got to view the letter from the School Board Association in the same context as the dossier and the Trump-Russia investigation,” Jordan said in December. “Jim Comey wanted, and the Obama FBI and Justice Department, wanted to go after President Trump, they wanted to spy on President Trump. But they needed an excuse, and the excuse became, ‘Oh, there’s a dossier.’ Jim Comey sees this, knows it’s garbage, but he goes and flies up to Trump Tower in January, early January of 2017, before President Trump’s even been sworn in, and gives him a briefing on the dossier because they want to use that.”
“So they needed a catalyst to do what they wanted to do,” Jordan concluded. “It’s a template that we see being used, and it’s exactly the template that was used here.”
“Because of the NSBA’s letter to President Biden,” Jordan’s letter states, “the FBI is using federal counterterrorism tools to track and categorize an unknown number of American parents simply for standing up at school board meetings to advocate for their children’s future.”
“It has been over four months since we first requested documents and information about the National School Boards Association’s (NSBA) letter to President Biden in which the NSBA equated parents with domestic terrorists and urged federal intervention—including use of the Patriot Act—to silence parents at school board meetings,” Jordan points out in the letter.
“Moms and dads deserve answers,” Jordan told Breitbart News on Wednesday. “We’ve been asking for documents for months and we still have nothing from the NSBA. It’s beyond time for accountability.”
“Despite new CEO John Heim’s effort to rehabilitate the NSBA’s image and ‘restore trust’ in the association, you have still failed to produce a single document responsive to our requests,” Jordan continues in the letter, while pointing out that much of the known information came from a “brave” FBI whistleblower who revealed the creation of “threat tag” “EDUOFFICIAL” to “track school board-related investigations.”
“Parents have an undisputed right to direct the upbringing and education of their children, including expressing concerns about the inclusion of controversial curricula in their child’s education,” Jordan’s letter asserts. “We are committed to fully examining the Biden Administration’s use of counterterrorism resources in relation to school board meetings at the urging of the NSBA.”
The letter calls on the NSBA to “immediately” produce the requested material.
The NSBA did not respond to a request for comment from Breitbart News.
As Breitbart News previously reported, the NSBA sent a letter to the Biden administration asking it to investigate parents as “domestic terrorists.”
Shortly thereafter, Attorney General Merrick Garland directed the FBI to look into parents — but maintained that parents would not be treated as “domestic terrorists.” Despite that, a whistleblower revealed the FBI was, in fact, using “counterterrorism tools” to look into parents concerned about their children’s educations.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) has batted down any attempt to subpoena the NSBA or federal officials involved.
UPDATE:
“The National School Boards Association (NSBA) has launched an independent comprehensive review of the circumstances around the September 2021 letter sent to the Biden administration,” NSBA Executive Director and CEO Dr. John Heim said in a statement to Breitbart News. “The sentiments shared in the letter do not represent the views or position of NSBA towards parents, and directly contradict our core commitment to parent engagement—we sent the wrong message, and we have apologized.”
“The review is being conducted by Philip Kiko, an attorney and the former Chief Administrative Officer of the U.S. House of Representatives under two different Speakers, and the law firm Michael Best & Friedrich,” the statement continued. “The review will seek to address as many questions as possible, and NSBA will share the findings with their members and the Hill as quickly as possible. We take this matter seriously and will continue to take appropriate action.”
[UPDATE: This story has been updated to include a comment from NSBA Executive Director and CEO John Heim received after publication.]
Breccan F. Thies is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @BreccanFThies.
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