In a bombshell new report, Joe Biden’s Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona appears to have solicited the infamous letter from the National School Board Association (NSBA) which falsely described conservative parents as “domestic terrorists.”
According to the New York Post, newly-uncovered emails from October featured NSBA Secretary-Treasurer Kristi Swett explicitly saying that then-interim CEO Chip Slaven “was writing a letter to provide information to the White House, from a request by Secretary Cardona.” The email, dated October 6th, was obtained via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the nonprofit watchdog group Parents Defending Education.
In the original letter on September 29th, Slaven told Biden that parents who protested at school board meetings, particularly in opposition to mask mandates, Critical Race Theory, and transgender bathroom policies, could be considered “a form of domestic terrorism.” He thus demanded that the Biden Administration “examine appropriate enforceable actions” under the guise of national security, including possible use of the Patriot Act.
Slaven had also told his staff that he was “in talks over the last several weeks with White House staff,” after they had “requested additional information on some of the specific threats.”
In response to the letter, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on October 4th that he had ordered the FBI to investigate “a disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff.”
On October 12th, then-Vice President of the NSBA Viola Garcia further explained in a memo that the NSBA had “actively engaged with the White House, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Education, Surgeon General, and other federal agencies on pandemic related issues.” Just two weeks later, Garcia would be selected by Secretary Cardona to serve on the National Assessment Governing Board.
The letter drew widespread backlash and condemnation for its labeling parents as terrorists. Although the NSBA later recanted its letter and issued an apology, numerous states have since withdrawn from the national organization out of protest of the letter and its contents. The incident only further fueled protests at school boards across the country, which culminated in a Republican wave in the Virginia elections last November, due in large part to Republican candidates vowing to crack down on far-left policies in public schools.