FBI Director Christopher Wray distanced himself from Attorney General Merrick Garland’s memorandum targeting parents at school board meetings, following Republican California Rep. Kevin Kiley’s inquiry. During an FBI oversight hearing,
Wray responded to Kiley’s question regarding whether Garland consulted with Wray or the FBI before issuing the memo, saying, “I can’t get into discussions that did or, maybe more importantly, did not happen between the FBI and the department.” When Kiley asked why Wray said “more importantly did not,” Wray asserted that the FBI is not in the business of policing speech at school board meetings, and that his office would not start doing so.
Wray’s statement came after a letter from the National School Boards Association (NSBA) asked the Biden administration to investigate alleged threats to school board members that were “the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.”
A March report from the House Judiciary Committee showed the FBI opened 25 “guardian assessments” into alleged school board threats, and six cases were handled by the bureau’s counterterrorism division. However, Wray informed Rep. Kiley that there was no uptick in threats and no federal prosecutions for alleged threats to school board members.
Internal Justice Department communications showed had Garland performed due diligence prior to issuing his memorandum, he would have realized there was no “disturbing spike” in alleged threats and violence at school board meetings. Kiley then questioned whether Garland should rescind the memorandum and if he should apologize.
Wray said these questions were “for the Attorney General” and refused to apologize for the bureau’s role in carrying out Garland’s memo. The House Judiciary report revealed evidence of the Biden administration and NSBA working together prior to the NSBA’s letter. Additionally, Justice Department officials coordinated with Department of Education officials regarding Garland’s directive.
FBI whistleblower Steve Friend testified in May to the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government about how the FBI sent him to take down parents’ license plate numbers outside of a school board meeting. Friend noted how his colleagues teased him for this task and explained that Wray had lied about the scope of FBI agents’ roles.
Here’s Friend’s testimony, from May 18 before the Weaponization Committee
— Vince Coglianese (@VinceCoglianese) July 12, 2023
Overall, Wray distanced himself from the controversy surrounding Garland’s memo and refused to comment on calls for Garland’s apology and rescindment. In reality, the FBI’s investigations into school board threats revealed there was no increase in violence and the attempt to target parents for the purpose of capturing unsubstantiated alleged threats proved futile.