Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) is seen as he participates in a photo op with President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett prior to their meeting in the Mansfield Room of the U.S. Capitol on September 30, 2020. (Bonnie Cash/AP)

Republicans demand answers from education secretary over NSBA parents-as-terrorists letter

Jeremiah Poff January 13, 05:47 PMJanuary 13, 05:47 PM

Republicans are demanding Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona testify before Congress after emails showed he solicited the infamous letter from the National School Boards Association that called protesting parents domestic terrorists.

Led by Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, 24 Republican senators, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, wrote a letter to Cardona Thursday demanding the secretary answer questions related to his role in soliciting the NSBA’s Sept. 29 letter. Attorney General Merrick Garland used the letter as the pretext for establishing a Department of Justice-FBI task force to investigate threats against school board members.

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NSBA WROTE PARENTS-AS-TERRORISTS LETTER AT BEHEST OF EDUCATION SECRETARY MIGUEL CARDONA, EMAILS SHOW

The senators asked for Cardona to respond to six questions regarding his role in soliciting the infamous letter and his personal views, including if he believes “parents exercising constitutionally protected rights are ‘domestic terrorists.'”

The NSBA’s letter drew widespread backlash in the weeks following its release, especially after Garland published a memo establishing the investigative task force. The organization later apologized for the letter, but Garland stood by his memo in October testimony to Congress.

On Tuesday, internal emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request from the NSBA revealed that members of the organization said they had written the letter to the Biden administration at the behest of Cardona. The Education Department has denied the secretary requested the letter.

In the House of Representatives, the entire GOP delegation on the House Committee for Education and Labor, led by ranking member Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, wrote Democratic committee Chairman Bobby Scott of Virginia to request Scott “call Secretary Cardona before this Committee to testify in person regarding his actions weaponizing federal law enforcement power against parents.”

“No law-abiding parent should be treated like a criminal or intimidated into silence,” the representatives wrote. “There is no higher priority for this Committee than protecting parents’ rights when it comes to their children’s education.”

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“It appears Secretary Cardona is soliciting help from the education establishment to stifle parents’ ability to engage with their elected officials, and we need to know what other actions he has taken to support his union and partisan allies over parents,” they concluded.

© 2022 Washington Examiner

Originally appeared at Washington Examiner

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