(Joshua Paladino, Headline USA) Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee claimed a USA Today fact check proves that the Justice Department has not treated parents as domestic terrorists, mrcTV reported.
The DOJ and FBI have opened investigations into parents who attended school board meetings and complained that their public schools are teaching anti-white critical race theory, transgender ideology, and the 1619 curriculum.
Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., confronted the Democrats about their decision to cite a partisan fact check rather than looking at the DOJ and FBI’s actions.
“If there’s no problem, why don’t they disclose? Why don’t they tell us?” Bishop asked at a committee hearing on April 5. “Why didn’t they tell us about DOJ officials’ threat tag? And why don’t they tell us how it’s being used?,”
“The members of the majority are reduced to relying upon articles in the leftist media from Reuters and USA Today, a USA Today FactCheck,” he said with a laugh.
Last October, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memorandum that directed the FBI to target parents who engaged in “harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff.”
Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said a whistleblower had evidence that the FBI was using counterterrorism tactics, including “threat tags,” to track parents.
The Democrats cited a USA Today article from Nov. 29, 2021, titled “Fact check: FBI is not using threat tags on parents who protest at school board meetings.”
“The FBI told USA TODAY it does not investigate parents who simply speak out at school board meetings,” the fact check states.
The article simply referenced a DOJ press release but did not include original reporting to debunk the whistleblower’s allegations.
“We are fully committed to preserving and protecting First Amendment rights, including freedom of speech,” according to the FBI statement. “The FBI’s focus is on violence and threats of violence that potentially violate federal law.”
