Subpoenas fly in House investigation of school boards handling of angry parents

by mcardinal

Willie R. Tubbs, FISM News

House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has officially ratcheted up the pressure on senior Biden administration officials as Republicans seek to discover if federal agencies were used or requested to be used to suppress the speech of parents angered by the actions of various school boards. 

As first reported by the Daily Caller, Jordan has subpoenaed Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, who has been “commanded” to appear before the committee on March 1, Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI director Christoper Wray. 

Jordan has also sent letters to Chip Slaven, former Interim Executive Director and CEO of the National School Boards Association; Nina Jankowicz, formerly tabbed to lead the Department of Homeland Security’s long-defunct “Disinformation Governance Board;” Viola Garcia of the National School Boards Association; and Jennifer Moore, the FBI’s human resources director. 

Per the Daily Caller’s report, the spirit of the letters was that each individual had one last chance to provide the committee with information and/or documents or face subpoenas of their own. 

Republicans’ primary focus has been on a letter Garland sent out asking school boards to report suspected extremist and terrorist activities to the Department of Justice. Conservatives have long argued the letter served as a means of chilling the speech of parents who have expressed concerns over various progressive policies in American public schools. 

Garland and Wray have resolutely denied having any interest in suppressing Americans’ First Amendment rights. 

According to a report from USA Today, the White House was, unsurprisingly, critical of Jordan’s decision. 

“These subpoenas make crystal clear that extreme House Republicans have no interest in working together with the Biden Administration on behalf of the American people – and every interest in staging political stunts,” USA Today quoted White House Spokesperson Ian Sams as saying. 

Both Wray and Garland have previously appeared before House committees and been questioned by Republicans on the letter, but this will be the first time the men face a Republican-controlled room. 

Cardona, Garland, and Wray, through their respective agencies, have released statements that they have been cooperating with the committee’s requests. 

DONATE NOW