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FIRST ON FOX: A right-leaning federal watchdog organization said it is suing the Education and Homeland Security departments over documents pertaining to the National School Board Association (NSBA) letter comparing parents to “domestic terrorists.”
Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT) announced on Friday it had filed lawsuits against the Education Department and DHS over the controversial letter. PPT shared the announcement first with Fox News.
“This episode keeps getting, as the old saying goes, curiouser and curiouser,” PPT director Mike Chamberlain told Fox News in an email statement.
“With evidence that the Education Secretary may have been involved in soliciting the letter, it’s well past time for all the agencies involved to come clean and release all relevant records,” Chamberlain continued. “However, absent this litigation they don’t appear willing to do so.”
Chamberlain previously worked in the Department of Education during the Trump administration.
Miguel Cardona speaks in 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. (Joshua Roberts/Getty Images)
The lawsuit against DHS says the department “cannot escape the statutory deadlines in the FOIA by shuffling records and requests between different agency components, particularly where, as in this case, both the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and the Privacy Office were included in Plaintiff’s original request.”
Meanwhile, the lawsuit against the Department of Education alleges PPT’s “request has been pending for more than 100 days – well beyond the statutory period for federal agencies to make a determination.”
The press release said the lawsuits were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to enforce Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests submitted by PPT regarding the letter.
The lawsuits allege that the departments “had not complied with their statutory obligation” to produce the records requested under FOIA.
“Citing the need for transparency and concerns about the potential misuse of authority, PPT submitted FOIA requests in October with the Departments of Education (ED), Homeland Security (DHS), and Justice (DOJ) seeking records regarding communications around the NSBA letter and DOJ memo,” the press release reads.
Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks at the Department of Justice, Jan. 5, 2022. (Carolyn Kaster/Pool via REUTERS)
“These documents have since been the subject of intense media scrutiny and highly charged Congressional hearings,” it continues. “At least 11 states have withdrawn their memberships in the NSBA since the letter.”
The release also cites recent reports revealing that Education Secretary Miguel Cardona had solicited the NSBA’s letter comparing parents to domestic terrorists that was used to justify the DOJ memo from U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland mobilizing the FBI to school board meetings across America.
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Emails reviewed by Fox News show a top NSBA official indicating that Cardona solicited the NSBA letter, although the Education Department denies that he did so.
Senate Republicans earlier this week probed both the Department of Education and DOJ over the letter, with both of the lawmakers’ letters shooting a litany of questions at the two Cabinet secretaries about the letter, which was used in a DOJ memo mobilizing the FBI “in support of local education officials.”
Neither department immediately responded to Fox News’ requests for comment.
Fox News’ Peter Hasson contributed reporting.