Tag: Attorney General Merrick Garland

Lawmakers Demand Attorney General Merrick Garland ‘Conduct Comprehensive Investigation’ into Deaths of Five Late-Term Babies Aborted in Washington, DC

Susan Berry, PhD

House Pro-Life Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) led 69 members of Congress in a letter Friday that calls on Attorney General Merrick Garland to “conduct a comprehensive investigation” into the deaths of five late-term babies, apparently aborted in Washington, DC, to determine whether federal crimes were committed by the abortionist.

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Congress Requests DOJ Investigate Amazon for Alleged ‘Criminal Conduct’

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Bipartisan members of the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday requesting an investigation into Amazon for alleged criminal obstruction of the committee’s probe into the tech giant.

The letter, sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland, alleged Amazon misled committee members and engaged in “potentially criminal conduct” during a 15-month investigation into competition in digital markets. The letter was signed by House Judiciary Committee Chair Democratic New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, Democratic Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline, Republican Colorado Rep. Ken Buck, Democratic Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz.

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14 States Sue Biden to Divulge Secret Contacts About School Board ‘Domestic Terrorism’ Letter

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The Biden administration is stonewalling 14 states seeking documents preceding Attorney General Merrick Garland’s controversial Oct. 4 memo directing the FBI to prosecute threats against school boards, according to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed Friday.

Garland acted in response to a Sept. 29 letter to President Biden from the National School Boards Association (NSBA), widely perceived as equating parental activism with “domestic terrorism.”

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Biden DOJ Hurts Americans’ Trust by ‘Doing Bidding of the Radical Left,’ Former Official Warns

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Attorney General Merrick Garland

Attorney General Merrick Garland has undercut his own promise to restore trust in the Justice Department by “doing the bidding of the radical left,” such as suing to block voter ID laws and launching FBI probes of school parents, a former top agency lawyer says.

Gene Hamilton, who served as counselor to Trump-era Attorneys General Jeff Sessions and William Barr, told Just the News he hoped Garland would focus the department on core law enforcement priorities and away from ideological agendas but has been sorely disappointed.

“For all of his rhetoric, and for all of his talk about returning the Department of Justice to norms and all of those other such things, Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice has betrayed the trust of the American people,” Hamilton said during an interview Friday on the John Solomon Reports podcast.

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Tom Cotton Freezes Confirmation of DOJ Nominees over Failure to Address Antifa Riots

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At least eight of Joe Biden’s nominations for the Department of Justice have been placed on hold by Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), due to the Department’s failure to answer Cotton’s questions about its inaction over the Antifa and Black Lives Matter riots of 2020.

As reported by Fox News, Cotton’s criticisms have focused specifically on the DOJ’s failure to properly defend a federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, which ended up under siege by far-left domestic terrorists on a daily basis throughout 2020 and even into 2021. Cotton has already sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland pointing out that, on top of letting the courthouse itself be attacked, the DOJ has not offered any legal assistance to several U.S. Marshals who have been sued for defending the courthouse against rioters.

“These courageous officers were attacked by left-wing street militants with weapons such as mortar fire, ball bearings, and blinding lasers,” Cotton’s letter reads in part. “A refusal to represent these Deputy Marshals would violate the Department’s long-standing practice — not to mention its moral duty — to defend law-enforcement officers when they’re sued for actions in the line of duty.”

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Senator Marsha Blackburn Demands Attorney General Garland Withdraw Memo That Connected Parents to ‘Domestic Terrorists’

Cooper Moran

Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) joined her Republican colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee, demanding Attorney General Merrick Garland withdraw the memo he issued that connected parents to domestic terrorists.

Furthermore, during the Department of Justice’s investigation, the organization used the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Counterterrorism unit.

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Exclusive: Moms for Liberty ‘Emboldened’ by Weaponized DOJ, Slams Leftist Critics

Peter D'Abrosca

The leader of a nonprofit group based in Tennessee that is battling Critical Race Theory (CRT) in schools is not afraid of the White House working in conjunction with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to intimidate parents who protest the far-left curriculum.

“Our message to [Attorney General Merrick] Garland would be this: by weaponing the DOJ against parents, you’re only emboldening us and affirming to us how corrupt the system is – from the Public Schools, to the top of our Government agencies,” Moms for Liberty Chair Robin Steenman told The Tennessee Star. “It’s demonstrating just how far the Progressive left is willing to go to seize this generation’s mind – they will threaten, intimidate and harass parents using government authority if need be.”

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Michigan Senate Republicans Urge State’s School Board Association to Break with National Organization

Cooper Moran
Senator Jim Runestad

A group of Republican lawmakers in the Michigan State Senate signed a letter written by Senator Jim Runestad (R-White Lake), urging the Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB) to withdraw its membership and affiliation from the National School Board Association (NSBA).

In the letter, the state lawmakers expressed concern over the direction of local schooling and the role parents are allowed to play in their children’s education.

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National School Boards Association Removes Letter Comparing Parents to Domestic Terrorists from Its Website

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The National School Boards Association scrubbed its letter, which compared the actions of concerned parents at school board meetings to those of domestic terrorists, from its website.

The deleted National School Boards Association (NSBA) letter, addressed to President Joe Biden’s administration, sparked outrage and backlash from parents across the country for requesting federal government intervention. The letter suggested the use of statutes, such as the USA PATRIOT Act, to stop threats or violence directed toward school board members over actions that it said could be “the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes,” according to the Sept. 29. letter.

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Whistleblower Accuses FBI of Using Counterterrorism Tools Against Concerned Parents

Peter D'Abrosca

On behalf of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH-04) Tuesday sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland claiming that a whistleblower provided the committee with information that contradicts Garland’s own Oct. 21 testimony.

The National School Boards Association colluded with the White House before sending a September letter to President Joe Biden accusing parents who have protested Critical Race Theory (CRT) and other liberal agendas in public schools around the country of being “domestic terrorists,” terminology for which it later apologized. Subsequently, Garland sent out a memo ordering the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to investigate those parents. 

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National School Boards Association Coordinated with White House on Letter Calling Parents ‘Domestic Terrorists’

Peter D'Abrosca

A new timeline of events in the controversial National School Boards Association (NSBA) letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland shows that the NSBA was in contact with the White House before sending the letter to President Joe Biden.

Emails obtained by a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) from the group called Parents Defending Education request show that NSBA President Viola Garcia sent a memo to state NSBA chapters on October 12 describing its work against parents who were protesting at school board meetings nationwide. Some of those protests regarded mask mandates and liberal activism within schools.

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Justice Department Sues Texas over New Election Law

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The Department of Justice filed a complaint against Texas on Thursday, alleging certain provisions in the state’s new election law violated federal voting legislation.

The complaint alleged that certain provisions in Texas’ new election law, known as SB 1, violate Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act by denying voters, especially those with disabilities, “meaningful assistance” in the poll booth. The complaint also alleged that Texas’ law requiring the rejecting of ballots with certain errors that the DOJ claims are inconsequential violates the Civil Rights Act.

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Florida School Boards Association Voices Concern over Federal Interference

Grant Holcomb

The Florida School Boards Association (FSBA) has issued a letter to the National School Boards Association (NSBA) over their concerns of federal overreach in local school district meetings.

The original letter from the national organization to President Joe Biden said teachers were under “immediate threat” from parents over their vocal opposition to Critical Race Theory (CRT) and mask mandates in public schools and asked federal law enforcement agencies to launch investigations against the parents.

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Commentary: Activating the ‘Secret Police’ to Aid School Boards

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The FBI will investigate threats and intimidation against school board members, administrators, teachers, and staff, United States Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on Oct. 4. In so doing, Garland claimed federal jurisdiction over local law enforcement, in clear violation of the U.S. Constitution.

This power grab by the AG supposedly came as a response to a letter from the National School Boards Association (NSBA), a leftist advocacy group with vast influence over the nation’s school boards. To gain some insight into how this ukase or edict is playing out, I attended a school board meeting in the charming village of Greenwich (“It’s Greeen-wich, not Gren-itch”) in northern New York state.

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Stauber Resolution Condemns Biden’s ‘Weaponization’ of Federal Agencies Against Parents

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Twenty-five House members have introduced a resolution to support the free-speech rights of concerned parents speaking at school board meetings nationwide.

The chief proponent of the resolution is Rep. Pete Stauber of Minnesota. Its stated purpose is to “express the sense of the House of Representatives that the First Amendment rights of parents at school board meetings shall not be infringed.”

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Attorney General Garland Denies Knowledge of Claims that Zuckerberg ‘Bought’ 2020 Election

Peter D'Abrosca

During Wednesday’s hours-long grilling of Attorney General Merrick Garland by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, which mainly focused on the events of January 6 and Garland’s directive to investigate parents who speak School Board meetings, one critical question went almost unnoticed. 

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) questioned Garland about Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s $400 million spending spree during the 2020 election. The money was allocated through Zuckerberg-funded non-profits the Center for Tech and Civic Life, described by Influence Watch as an “organization [that] pushes for left-of-center voting policies and election administration,” and the Center for Election Innovation and Research. 

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Michigan Parents Sue Attorney General Garland over Plan to Target Anti-School Board Protests

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On Tuesday, a lawsuit was filed against Attorney General Merrick Garland by a group of parents in Michigan, with the intention of blocking his plans to use the Department of Justice (DOJ) to target them for protesting school board meetings, as reported by the New York Post.

The parents are from Saline, Michigan, and are represented by the American Freedom Law Center. The civil suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and seeks to protect the parents’ “fundamental right to freedom of speech, to direct the education of their children, and to be free from unlawful discrimination based upon their political and religious beliefs and views.”

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Virginia Gubernatorial Race: Youngkin Pounces After McAuliffe ‘Abruptly’ Cuts, Runs from TV Interview

Neil W. McCabe

  Two weeks before Virginia’s bellwether election, Republican Glenn A. Youngkin‘s campaign is banging the pots and pans to draw attention to Democrat Terence R. “Terry” McAuliffe’s sudden end to his interview with WJLA-TV’s Nick Minock. Three times, a McAuliffe staffer interrupted the interview, which ended with this exchange: McAuliffe Staffer: “Alright Nick we are already over time.” Terry McAuliffe: “Alright, we are over. That’s it. That’s it. Hey I gave you extra time. C’mon man. You should have asked better questions early on. You should have asked questions your viewers care about.” Nick Minock: “Well, we did.” WJLA-TV anchor Jonathan Elias introduced the paired interviews with an explanation for why McAuliffe’s segment was roughly 10 minutes, compared with Youngkin’s 20-minute segment. “We do want to point out that the Terry McAuliffe interview is shorter than our interview with Glenn Youngkin, that was not by our doing,” Elias said. “Nick offered both candidates 20 minutes exactly to be fair, for the interviews. McAuliffe abruptly ended 7 News’ interview after just 10 minutes and told Nick that he should have asked better questions.” The Youngkin campaign quickly tweeted out what happened– the candidate held a rally for 10,000 supporters in the…

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Senator Blackburn Questions Attorney General Merrick Garland’s Conflict of Interest Regarding Critical Race Theory

Cooper Moran

Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Tuesday joined Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) and sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, expressing concern over Garland’s close connection to Critical Race Theory (CRT).

In the letter, the trio of lawmakers questioned Garland’s proximity to Panorama Education, a company that was co-founded by Garland’s son-in-law and works with schools to advance Critical Race Theory.

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Pro-Trump Cheney Opponent Speaks Out Against Mask Tyranny in Schools

Peter D'Abrosca

After a battle over masks at Laramie High School in Wyoming ended with a 16-year-old student being arrested for trespassing at her own school, Harriet Hageman, a pro-Trump challenger to Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY-01) issued a statement condemning mask mandates in schools. 

Grace Smith was first suspended for two days from Laramie High School for refusing to wear a mask. After serving her suspension, she returned to school, again maskless. She then politely refused to leave school grounds, and was arrested by officers from the Laramie Police Department. The arrest even triggered a brief lockdown at the school. 

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Navy Engineer, Wife Charged with Trying to Pass Nuclear Submarine Secrets to Foreign Power

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The U.S. Justice Department unsealed a criminal complaint Sunday alleging that a Navy engineer and his wife repeatedly tried to pass secrets about U.S. nuclear submarines to a foreign power in a plot thwarted by an undercover FBI agent.

Jonathan Toebbe, 42, and his wife Diana, 45, both of Annapolis, Md,. were arrested Saturday in West Virginia by the FBI and Naval Criminal Investigative Service on espionage-related charges of violating the Atomic Energy Act, officials said.

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Commentary: Merrick Garland’s Disdain for Middle America

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Are you upset that school officials force your kids to mask outdoors and teach them to hate themselves because of their skin color? You might be a terrorist, according to the Department of Justice.

Attorney General Merrick Garland this week issued a memo directing his agency to investigate and counter alleged threats to school board officials and teachers. The memo was prompted by spirited protests happening at school board meetings across the country. Parents are fed up with left-leaning bureaucrats and their insidious ideas for kids. It’s no surprise some parents get very passionate about these issues—it’s their own kids they’re trying to protect.

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Williamson County to Limit Speakers at School Board Meetings, Require Proof of Residence

Cooper Moran

The Williamson County School Board announced on Friday that they will limit the number of speakers allowed to address the members and require proof of residence in order to speak.

Additionally, potential speakers must email the school board in advance to secure a position, detailing first/last name, complete address, topic of comment, organization represented, and a copy of a Tennessee state ID.

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Commentary: The Collectivist Presumption Against Parents

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Like religion, the traditional family poses a rival authority to liberalism’s arrogant conception of the state. Consequently, liberals view religious freedom and parental authority with suspicion and often hostility. Liberals are keenly aware that the fulfillment of their statist goals — pushing propaganda about abortion, transgenderism, critical race theory, socialism, and so on — depends upon isolating children from the influences of religion and family.

It is this view that drives liberalism’s opposition to parental consent and notification laws and its distaste for private education and homeschooling. Last year, a Harvard law professor argued for a ban on homeschooling, saying that it represents a danger to a “democratic society.”

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‘Totalitarian Tyranny’: Parents Groups Slam Attorney General Garland for Turning FBI on Their Activism

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Parents who protest public school policies on race, gender and COVID-19 are crying foul after Attorney General Merrick Garland promised to “discourage” and prosecute “harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence” against school boards, administrators, teachers and staff.

His “mobilization of [the] FBI against parents is consistent with the complete weaponization of the federal government against ideological opponents,” Rhode Island mother Nicole Solas, who is waging a public records battle with her school district over race-related curriculum, told Just the News.

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Attorney General Merrick Garland Instructs FBI to Investigate Alleged ‘Threats’ by Parents Against School Officials

Cooper Moran
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) field office, Minneapolis Division, at 1501 Freeway Boulevard in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on Monday that the Department of Justice and the FBI are launching an effort to address the alleged increase in “threats” made against school officials.

According to a statement from the Department of Justice, Garland has directed “the FBI and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices to meet in the next 30 days with federal, state, Tribal, territorial and local law enforcement leaders to discuss strategies for addressing this disturbing trend.”

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Commentary: Justice Department Should Defend Unborn Not Abortion

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Leave it to Attorney General Merrick Garland, once seemingly destined for the Supreme Court. When choosing between America’s most vulnerable members and most determined political lobby, he picked the abortion industry over millions of babies.

He didn’t put it that way, of course. He explained, “The department will provide support from federal law enforcement when an abortion clinic or reproductive health center is under attack.”

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Tennessee Attorney General Demands Biden Administration Enforce Illegal Reentry Laws

Peter D'Abrosca

Tennessee’s Attorney General is joining several of his peers nationwide in demanding that the Biden Administration enforce illegal reentry laws, which make it a crime to attempt to cross back into the United States after deportation. 

“We, the undersigned attorneys general, write as chief legal officers of our States to inquire about your intent to appeal the decision in United States v. Carrillo-Lopez…” a letter signed by Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III and addressed to United States Attorney General Merrick Garland says.

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Republicans Demand Update on Long-Awaited Durham Report

The Center Square

After two years of waiting for a federal report on allegations of Democratic spying on the Trump campaign, Republicans are demanding answers.

More than 40 Republican U.S. senators sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland Thursday requesting the release of the Durham report, the long-awaited results of an investigation into the controversial origins of the FBI investigation into Russian collusion.

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DOJ Legal Threats Against State Election Audits Suggest Unease about Potential Findings

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The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent guidance on the process of state election audits indicates that the federal agency is apparently deeply unsettled by the string of election audits and election reform efforts carried out by state Republicans since last November’s presidential election.

The guidance, distributed last week and directed in part toward state legislatures, instructs investigators on “how states must comply with federal law” when conducting election audits. It also addresses efforts by some state legislatures to repeal emergency COVID-19 voting rules that other states have in some cases sought to make permanent.

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Biden DOJ Sues Texas over Executive Order Banning Transportation of Sick Illegal Aliens

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The Biden Justice Department on Friday sued Texas and Gov. Greg Abbott seeking to overturn an executive order prohibiting the ground transportation of illegal aliens who could be carrying COVID-19.

Attorney General Merrick Garland’s team argued in U.S. District Court that Abbott’s order interferes with the federal government’s ability to address immigration.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he would contest the order and “keep President Biden out of Texas business.”

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Police Groups, Unions to Argue Against Minneapolis Police Racism Probe in Meeting with DOJ

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Minneapolis Police Department

Top police organizations and unions will reportedly express concern to Attorney General Merrick Garland about his racism probe into the Minneapolis Police Department, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The groups are expected to confront Garland and other Justice Department (DOJ) officials about the investigations during a meeting Friday afternoon, the WSJ reported. While many of the groups’ leaders have endorsed various police reforms since George Floyd’s death last year, they worried a broad probe would be unproductive and hurt rank-and-file officers.

“We recognize that there needs to be more oversight, there needs to be some reform in place, but we need DOJ to work with us because there has to be buy-in from the line men and women who do this job,” David Mahoney, president of the National Sheriffs’ Association and sheriff of Dane County, Wisconsin, told the WSJ.

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