‘I Did Not Do That’: Merrick Garland Rebuts GOP Senator’s Claim He Issued Memo Ordering the FBI To Go After Parents

Attorney General Merrick Garland testified before the Democratic-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday and attempted the set the record straight on the October 2021 Department of Justice memo that many on the right have long claimed included an instruction to sic the FBI and other law enforcement on parents. Garland adamantly rejected that claim on Capitol Hill today.

“Didn’t you understand, the chilling effect that it would have to parents when you issued your directive, when you directed your criminal divisions and your counter-terrorism divisions, to investigate parents who are angry at school boards and administrators during Covd-19?” asked Senator John Kennedy (R-LA).

“So, Senator, if you could just give me a moment to full context. I did not do that. I did not issue any memorandum directing the investigation of parents who are concerned about their children,” Garland replied, adding:

Quite to the contrary, the memorandum that you’re talking about says at the very beginning of the memorandum that vigorous public debate is protected by the First Amendment. And the kind of concerns that you’re talking about are, as expressed by parents are, of course, completely protected.

“The memorandum was aimed at violence and threats of violence against a whole host of school personnel. It was not aimed at parents making complaints to their school board. And it came in the context of a whole series of other kinds of violence, threats, and violence against other public officials,” Garland concluded.

That memo does indeed begin, “In recent months, there has 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. While spirited debate about policy matters is protected under our Constitution, that protection does not extend to threats of violence or efforts to intimidate individuals based on their views.”

Politifact conducted a fact check on a May 2022 claim by Virginia Lt. Governor Winsome Earle-Sears (R), who said on Fox & Friends that Garland “sicced the police on parents when they were at the school boards simply trying to be heard for the safety of their children.”

Earle-Sears’s claim was deemed “false” by Politifact, which noted Garland’s memo ordered the FBI to work with local governments to help handle what he called, “a disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence” against school board members and educators.

Watch the full clip above via C-SPAN