A group of 14 states filed suit against the Biden administration seeking enforcement of a Freedom of Information Act request for any information regarding potential surveillance conducted by the FBI on parents who speak out during school board meetings.
“The suit comes on the heels of an appeal to the Justice Department last fall by the National School Boards Association to treat parents who express concerns about curriculum and other local school policies as domestic terrorists,” Conservative Brief , adding:
The suit also comes after the Biden administration refused to respond to FOIA requests filed by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, a Republican, and other states attempting to obtain communications among federal officials ahead of the October 2021 “threats” memo.
Now, Rokita is taking the lead in the FOIA lawsuit but he is joined by attorneys general in Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah, The Daily Wire reported.
“We just want the facts,” said Rokita. “Rather than cooperate, the Biden administration has sought to conceal and downplay its culpability. What are they hiding? Why won’t they come clean? Hoosiers and all Americans deserve to know.”
According to reports, the suit names U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.
“NSBA’s letter was followed by Garland directing the FBI in a memo to lead a task force addressing threats to school officials and report the threats. A spokesperson for the White House then claimed it was not involved in the DOJ memo and that the department ‘chose to take this approach on their own,'” The Daily Wire noted.
Garland testified to Congress in October that he was “sure that the communication from the National Association of School Boards was discussed between the White House and the Justice Department and that’s perfectly appropriate,” the lawsuit notes.
Shortly after Garland issued the memo, GOP attorneys general demanded that it be rescinded and the government “cease any further actions designed to intimidate parents from expressing their opinions on the education of their children,” the suit notes, adding the AGs also requested the government “respect their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and to raise their children.”
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