Rep. Jim Jordan Expects DOJ to Comply With School Board Protest Subpoena

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) speaks at a press conference following a Republican caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on June 8, 2022. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and the House Judiciary Committee expect full cooperation from the Department of Justices (DOJ) during their investigation into the agency’s treatment of parental school board protests in 2021.

Jordan, who chairs the committee, said he expects the DOJ to comply fully with the panel’s subpoena sent to several high-ranking members of the law enforcement agency several weeks ago.

Jordan spokesperson Russell Dye said judiciary committee staff “has conferred with the Department of Justice on numerous occasions” regarding the subpoenas issued to Attorney General Merrick Garland.

“Last Thursday, our staff spoke at length with DOJ about what precisely the Committee is looking for, why we were interested in those documents, and our priorities going forward. Our staff then spoke again with DOJ on Friday afternoon,” Dye said in a statement confirmed for The Epoch Times on Feb. 28.

“This follows numerous letters seeking voluntary compliance with our requests since October 2021. We expect full compliance with our subpoenas.”

Garland has until March 1 to turn over any papers and communications pertaining to how the government handled parental protests at school board meetings. The subpoena also applies to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.

Protests over COVID-19 regulations and other key issues took place at school board meetings in 2021. At the root of the government controversy is a September 2021 letter to President Joe Biden from the National School Boards Association (NSBA) which characterized disruptions at school board meetings as “a form of domestic terrorism and hate crime.”

A few days after the NSBA letter, Garland released a memo requesting assistance from federal law enforcement in addressing the allegedly “disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence” against educators.

Republican lawmakers, alarmed by Garland’s directive, promised to create a “parents’ bill of rights“ if they took control of Congress in 2022.

Earlier this month, Jordan confirmed that the committee conducted an interview with a whistleblower from the FBI about the DOJ’s treatment of the issue, as The Epoch Times previously reported.

“We’ve now had dozens of whistleblowers come talk to House Republican staff on the Judiciary Committee,” Jordan said in a news conference. “In fact, one of [the whistleblowers] is testifying in a transcribed interview as we speak.”

The Ohio lawmaker said the whistleblower who spoke to his committee has testified that the Justice Department is operating in “a political fashion and manner,” reportedly confirming Jordan’s recent comments about the politicization of the FBI and DOJ.

Shortly after the August FBI raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, Jordan said that over a dozen whistleblowers came forward about the bureau.

“Fourteen FBI agents have come to our office as whistleblowers, and they are good people,” Jordan said at the time. “There are lots of good people in the FBI. It’s the top that is the problem.”