The year 2021 was memorable for a lot of reasons – COVID vaccine mandates were a thing; the Texas power grid froze over; the supply chain was in shambles; and, Republican Glenn Youngkin was, improbably, elected governor of Virginia. 

Oh, and Joe Biden became president. 

It was also the year that parents across the nation found their voices, showing up for school board meetings in droves to fight both the radical curriculum being introduced in many public schools and the teacher union-led efforts to keep schools closed during COVID.

Those parents became so vocal and powerful – and, thus, a threat to the status quo – that the Biden administration, led by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland, decided something needed to be done. That "something," it turns out, was a coordinated effort between the Biden White House, the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the National School Boards Association (NSBA).

A blistering new report released Monday by the Trump DOJ's Weaponization Working Group revealed that the Biden administration was pressing federal law enforcement hard to get involved in the local school board disputes, seeming to agree with the NSBA's conclusion that the parent protests were akin to "domestic terrorism."

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According to the report, the Biden White House first contacted the DOJ on September 22, 2021. They were seeking legal options for responding to alleged threats and disruptions being made by parents at school board meetings. The White House reportedly described the matter as "fairly urgent."

🚨BREAKING: @TheJusticeDept Weaponization Working Group just issued a report detailing how the Biden DOJ explored avenues to PROSECUTE parents and protestors who spoke to school boards and school officials during the COVID-19 pandemic.

@TheJusticeDept remains committed to defending Constitutionally protected civil liberties, especially the First Amendment rights of ALL Americans.

On October 4, 2021, Garland issued a memo calling for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and U.S. Attorneys' Office to coordinate with state and local law enforcement to tamp down what he called a “disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence” against school officials.

Other DOJ officials weren't as keen as Garland to go after parents, with the Weaponization Working Group reporting a wide range of internal reactions urging caution. Here's a sampling of the comments about the memo:

  • “Stupid, stupid, stupid”
  • “they might as well rename the damn thing the Anti-MAGA Task Force”
  • “ridiculous,” 
  • “challenging from a First Amendment perspective”
  • “potentially dangerous ground”
  • “horrible”
  • “confusing”
  • “look[s] political”    
  • “a partisan exercise aimed at those who do not support the Administration”
  • Would “tarnish reputation as an apolitical law enforcer”  
  • “very messy and political”
  • “nothing remotely federal”

Garland released the memo despite the pushback, yet denied it was an attack on parents. “Nothing in this memorandum or any memorandum, is about parents expressing disagreements with their school boards,” he told the Senate in October 2021. “The Justice Department is not interested in that question at all.”

After reviewing the internal communications and investigative records, the Weaponization Working Group found that the memo was issued, chillingly, while being “influenced by White House officials.”

And its verdict is damning:

“The Working Group confirms the Memo was the product of pressure exerted by the White House and wrongly weaponized the Department of Justice against parents.”

There can only be one conclusion here: domestic terrorism was indeed at play here, but it wasn't the parents doing it.