New Report Reveals Who Was Really Behind NSBA Parents-As-Terrorist Letter

A brand new report has revealed that Education Secretary Miguel Cardona requested the now-infamous letter that was from the National School Boards Association that referred to parent activists as domestic terrorists, according to emails that were obtained by a parent activist group.

Parents Defending Education, a nonprofit organization, obtained the emails through a Freedom of Information Act request and also stated that the letter sent out last September from the National School Boards Association to President Joe Biden’s administration was actually personally requested by Cardona.

via Washington Examiner:

The September letter, for which the NSBA has since apologized, prompted Attorney General Merrick Garland to form a joint DOJ-FBI task force to investigate threats against school board members amid a nationwide pushback against school board officials over COVID-19 mandates and controversial curricula.

The email shows an exchange between NSBA board member Marnie Maldonado and NSBA Secretary-Treasurer Kristi Swett discussing the letter, which was written “from a request by Secretary Cardona.”

Cardona, the former Connecticut education commissioner, was appointed by President Joe Biden and took office in March of last year.

Maldonado had emailed Swett to ask if the NSBA’s own policies had been followed when it sent the letter and expressed concern that the statement and tone of the letter “allowed the White House to direct the Attorney General to consider members of our community ‘domestic terrorists.'”

Swett responded by telling Maldonado that “our board needs to have a discussion about a screening process for communications which go out from NSBA, that is aligned with our mission, vision and purpose statement.”

In a statement that was given to the Washington Eaminer, Parents Defending Education President Nicole Neily went on to say that if Cardona really did solicit this letter, then he “must be held accountable.”

“Attorney General Merrick Garland repeatedly stated that he based his memo, which mobilized the FBI and US Attorneys, on the NSBA letter,” Neily remarked. “This alleged coordination between Secretary Cardona and the Department of Justice is deeply concerning.”

The controversial letter from the NSBA was ultimately withdrawn and the organization issued an apology for having sent it. However, the attorney general then defended the letter and the task force he put together during a series of congressional hearings that took place in the later part of October, saying the concerns that were raised in the letter were legitimate, even if the NSBA had withdrawn it.