Press Releases

WASHINGTON, November 17, 2021 — United States Representative Mike Johnson (LA-04) today demanded that Attorney General Merrick Garland immediately be called to testify again before Congress after whistleblower documents obtained by the House Judiciary Committee revealed that the FBI’s Criminal and Counterterrorism divisions are using a “threat tag” to track American parents who question local education policies at their local school board meetings.

“Obviously treating concerned American parents as ‘domestic terrorists’ is outrageous, but this development is even more urgent,” Johnson said. “Attorney General Garland specifically testified to Congress the day after this directive was issued, on October 21^st, repeatedly and under oath, that the Department of Justice is not targeting parents.”

Johnson continued: “Attorney General Garland said in his own words, ‘I cannot imagine any circumstance in which these parents would be labeled as domestic terrorists.’”

Johnson concluded: “This disclosure from the DOJ whistleblower calls into question the accuracy and the completeness of that specific testimony.

“Did the Attorney General mislead us, or did he actually not know what the two largest divisions of his Department of Justice are doing about one of the highest profile issues in America today?

“There are only two possibilities here. He’s either dishonest or he’s incompetent—and either scenario is alarming to the American people…

“The Attorney General must go on record to clear that up and we will not cease in insisting upon that.”

The Congressman made his remarks during today’s House Judiciary Committee meeting.

Watch the Congressman’s full remarks at House Judiciary.

Congressman Johnson is the Vice Chairman of the House Republican Conference, a member of the House Judiciary and Armed Services Committees, and a former constitutional law litigator.