The Department of Justice has begun complying with a congressional subpoena seeking documents related to its investigation into parents protesting at school board meetings, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) said Wednesday.
Jordan said the FBI had turned over four documents but that the Department of Education, which also received a subpoena, had yet to provide documents, the Washington Examiner confirmed Wednesday. The documents received by the DOJ are the first.
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In February, the House Judiciary Committee approved subpoenas seeking documents from the Department of Justice, Department of Education, and the FBI related to an investigation into parents protesting at school board meetings. The subpoenas requested the three agencies turn over all documents related to the National School Boards Association letter and the subsequent DOJ investigation by March 1.
The impetus for the DOJ's investigation was a since-withdrawn letter from the NSBA that asked the Biden administration to investigate threats against school board members under federal anti-terrorism statutes, including the Patriot Act. Further reports indicated that Education Secretary Miguel Cardona had solicited the letter, a charge the Education Department has repeatedly denied.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education told the Washington Examiner that the agency had provided the Judiciary Committee with 1,004 pages of documents in response to the subpoena, which the spokesperson said had been sent "without warning."
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER“The Department made a significant production of more than 1,000 pages of documents as an accommodation to the Judiciary Committee by the requested date," the department said. "These documents continue to demonstrate what the Department has repeatedly made clear: the Secretary of Education did not request, direct any action, or play any role in the development of the September 29, 2021 NSBA letter. The Department remains committed to working in good faith with Congressional inquiries in a manner consistent with longstanding Executive Branch policy.”
After the NSBA letter was received, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memo forming a DOJ-FBI task force to investigate the threats. FBI whistleblowers subsequently revealed that the agency had launched several investigations into parents based on comments they made at school board meetings.