The Federal Bureau of Investigation has established a "threat tag" to monitor alleged threats against school board officials, faculty, teachers, and staff, a new internal email from the agency showed.
House Republicans on Tuesday released an internal email from an FBI whistleblower dated October 20, in which agents were instructed to apply the threat tag "EDUOFFICIALS" on all investigations and assessments of threats on education officials, specifically.
The email from the FBI whistleblower explained that the "threat tag" was established "to help scope this threat on a national level, and provide an opportunity for comprehensive analysis of the threat picture for effective engagement with law enforcement partners at all levels," Fox News reported. The guidance also orders the FBI to determine if the criminal activity under investigation violates federal law and the potential "motivation" behind it.
Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, who serves as the ranking member of the House Committee on the Judiciary, took to Twitter to accuse Garland of lying when he "testified that the FBI wasn't targeting parents." The Republican leader added that because of the FBI whistleblower's email, lawmakers now know that the FBI is indeed "tagging" parents they consider as "threats," which is why Garland "has some explaining to do."
Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Ohio also chimed in, remarking that if the email was accurate, then the FBI is indeed giving parents the "domestic-terrorist treatment after all."
According to The Federalist, Rep. Jordan lambasted the latest developments, writing that the new developments have provided "specific evidence that federal law enforcement operationalized counterterrorism tools at the behest of" the NSBA, which he called a "left-wing special interest group against parents."
The FBI was quick to go on the defense about the "threat tag" for parents allegedly "harassing" school board members, explaining that the establishment of such a tag "in no way changes the long-standing requirements for opening an investigation, nor does it represent a shift in how the FBI prioritizes threats." They also defended Garland's memo, saying that it merely "underscores" their efforts in supporting state and local partners in addressing "threats of violence" no matter the motive behind it.
The FBI also confirmed that they had never investigated parents who "speak out or policing speech at school board meetings, and we are not going to start now."
In late October, Garland testified before the House Judiciary Committee, during which he admitted that the FBI's efforts in looking into alleged threats by parents came about after the National School Board Association's (NSBA) letter asking the White House for additional protections. He denied that divisions concerned with counterterrorism were being deployed to address "threats."
He also went on the defense to say that he could not "imagine any circumstance in which the Patriot Act would be used in the circumstances of parents complaining about their children" or any "circumstance where they would be labeled as domestic terrorists."
