Jim Jordan demands testimony by White House officials about federal response to school board threats
Congressman Jim Jordan speaking with attendees at the 2021 AmericaFest. (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
November 18, 2022
The incoming Republican congressional majority is planning a wide-ranging investigation into the law enforcement response to a spate of school board tantrums pitched by conservative parents.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who's in line to become chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to White House chief of staff Ron Klain asking administration officials to testify at the start of the next Congress as part of a GOP investigation into the alleged "misuse of federal criminal and counterterrorism resources to target concerned parents at school board meetings," reported CBS News, which obtained the letter.
"The American people … deserve much more accountability and transparency about the Biden administration's anti-parent directives," Jordan said in the letter dated Oct. 17, more than two weeks before the midterm election.
The GOP committee members asked the White House to preserve records related to an October 2021 memo from attorney general Merrick Garland on a "disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff" related to pandemic safety measures, anti-racism lessons and other topics.
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The memo came in response to a September 2021 letter from the National School Boards Association asking the Biden administration to investigate threats against school board members as possible "domestic terrorism and hate crimes."
Testimony is voluntary for now, but Jordan's letter warns the committee may take steps to compel White House officials to appear before the panel, although his efforts to obtain records related to the National School Boards Association letter and Justice Department memo have so far been unsuccessful.
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