Press Releases

WASHINGTON, October 14, 2021 — United States Representative Mike Johnson (LA-04) joined Fox Business’ Evening Edit with Liz MacDonald on Wednesday evening to discuss local school board protests across the country and the efforts of House Republicans to make sure those parents’ voices are heard.

House Judiciary Committee Republicans sent a letter this week to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting an ethics inquiry and public report concerning his controversial Department of Justice memo, which directs the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Attorneys to mobilize against parents who protest at local school board meetings.

Watch the full interview here, and see excerpts below:

On Judiciary Committee Republicans calling for an ethics inquiry and public report into A.G. Merrick Garland’s controversial Department of Justice memo:

“All of the Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee have an obligation. We are supposed to provide oversight of the Department of Justice. Merrick Garland is the Attorney General, he's the top law enforcement official in this country, he should be above reproach.

“But when he sent out this controversial memo on October 4^th, it raised a lot of eyebrows. This is the memo of course, where he has directed the FBI and the U.S. Attorneys’ offices to mobilize against parents who have the audacity to exercise free speech and protest controversial curricula at their local school board meeting. This is not a federal issue.

“So, beyond the fact that it looks nakedly partisan, we have a deep concern about an ethics problem that has arisen. It is being reported that the Attorney General's son-in-law is the co-founder and owner of a company—get this—that promotes this far-left curricula that is the subject of many of these parents’ protests. We need a public report on this, we need an ethics inquiry, and we demanded that today.”

On local school board protests in Loudoun County, Virginia, following reports that the school board covered up the sexual assault of a female student and had her father arrested for demanding accountability:

“What's happening in Loudoun County, Virginia, is incomprehensible. And parents obviously have a right to exercise free speech and demand accountability from public officials. If what is alleged there is true, it should be an international story. But you may have noticed so few in the mainstream media are covering this at all. Meanwhile, Democrats are trying to silence the speech of parents. They are absolutely wrong to try to stop them. This should be the time for all parents to get engaged, do it lawfully, exercise your free speech, but certainly we have to have some accountability at these local school boards.”

On the Biden Administration aiming federal firepower at concerned parents:

“The National School Boards Association sent a letter to the Biden Administration demanding that the federal government get involved in this. They equated concerned parents at their school board meetings with domestic terrorists and said they might be engaging in hate crimes. It's outrageous. So, the Attorney General of the United States responds just a few days later, and issues this directive involving U.S. Attorneys and the FBI. It's over the top and we have to stop it.”

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.

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