Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) pressed U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday about whether his department has rescinded its directive to have the FBI investigate alleged threats against school personnel by looking into parents who protest at local school board meetings.
His questions cited Loudoun County father Scott Smith, who was recently pardoned by Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) after he was targeted for calling out the school system's handling of his daughter's sexual assault in a high school bathroom while at a 2021 school board meeting. Smith's confrontation was a flashpoint that triggered the Department of Justice's use of law enforcement resources to investigate school personnel threats and allegations of “domestic terrorism” at school board meetings.
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Following Youngkin's pardon this month, Smith reiterated in a statement that he was "not a 'domestic terrorist'" and that he was "just a father who will go to the ends of the Earth to protect his daughter."
Roy's questions about the department's handling of the parental rights movement on Wednesday began with reminding Garland about Smith's case.
"On Oct. 21, 2021, before this committee, I asked you about Mr. Scott Smith. A father in Loudoun County, Virginia, arrested at a school board meeting, he questioned the rape of his daughter in the bathroom of a public school there. You said at the time you were unfamiliar with the case. Are you now? Yes or no?" the Texas lawmaker asked at the hearing.
"Only familiar about it to the extent that I have read about it in the press. Yes," Garland said.
"You sent on a memo on Oct. 4, 2021, directing the FBI and U.S. attorney's office to address 'harassment of school boards.' Yes or no?" Roy asked.
"Sent a memo to address violence and threats of violence in connection with school personnel — " the attorney general responded.
"Directed at school boards?" Roy interjected.
"Not directed at schools. Directed at school personnel, school administrators," Garland clarified the directive.
The DOJ memorandum had tasked the FBI and U.S. attorneys' offices to meet in the next 30 days with federal, state, and local law enforcement leaders to outline strategies for addressing any harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence against school personnel across the country. The attorney general's directive came five days after the National School Boards Association wrote a letter to the president asking for federal assistance.
Roy interrupted Garland to point out the timing of the directive was following a letter on Sept. 29, 2021, from the National School Boards Association to President Joe Biden about "specific threats" and "one of the examples was Scott Smith."
"Subsequent to our hearing two years ago, 26 states left the National School Boards Association, and [the NSBA CEO Chip] Slaven resigned Nov. 23, 2021. Last week, Mr. Smith was pardoned by Gov. Youngkin. Do you think the governor was correct? Yes or no?" Roy pressed Garland.
"Pardon authority belongs to the governor," the attorney general said.
The Texas lawmaker pushed back, "You don't have an opinion whether the governor was correct?"
"I don't know the facts of the case, so I'm not in a position to —" Garland said.
"Have you rescinded the memo that you issued in 2021? Yes or no?" Roy asked.
Roy continued not to let up as the attorney general seemed to avoid answering the question directly.
"Yes or no? Has it been rescinded?" the House Judiciary Committee member repeatedly asked.
"There's nothing to rescind," Garland said.
Roy asked Garland if he has apologized for putting out the memo "about Scott Smith."
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"The memo said nothing about him, nothing about parents being terrorists, nothing about attending school boards — " the attorney general said.
Roy was raised in Loudoun County, Virginia, where the parental rights movement mobilized a nationwide outcry against school board overreach during the pandemic.