Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) is calling for FBI Director Kash Patel to conduct a full investigation into the Biden administration’s “witch hunt of concerned parents.”
Whistleblower reports as far back as 2021 revealed Biden’s FBI deployed “counterterrorism tools” to target concerned parents participating in local school board meetings, even labeling parents voicing concerns about education in their local school districts as potential “domestic terrorists.”
Ogles called the FBI’s targeting of parents “a deeply disturbing betrayal of the public trust” and wants Patel to name names.
“The Biden Administration’s surveillance and witch hunt of concerned parents who stood up for their children was nothing short of tyranny,” Ogles said in a statement to Breitbart News. “The lives of countless parents were destroyed by Joe Biden, Merrick Garland, and local officials who sought to silence dissent and intimidate everyday Americans into submission.
“Every official involved must be exposed and held accountable—and every innocent parent deserves full vindication.”
Ogles wants Patel to build on the work of House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) by conducting “a full and transparent review of its engagement with local and state officials in these cases, including a reexamination of any domestic terrorism designations applied to parents or citizen advocates,” his letter reads. “Records stemming from politically motivated investigations should be fully expunged. Where individuals were unduly burdened by investigatory overreach, restitution should be considered to mitigate the lasting harm inflicted on them and their families.”
According to the original whistleblower, “the Counterterrorism and Criminal Divisions created a threat tag, EDUOFFICIALS, to track instances of related threats.” Ogles said the FBI did so “without credible evidence of violent intent,” adding ”[t]he chilling effect on civic participation is undeniable.”
Even absent formal charges, the consequences of FBI targeting are real, requiring restitution, Ogles believes.
“While most of these cases did not result in formal charges, even being entered into investigative systems or monitored by federal authorities can carry serious reputational, financial, and emotional consequences,” he wrote. “The Bureau has an obligation not to impose such consequences without a credible, lawful basis, and certainly must not wield them as a political weapon.”
Ogles praised Patel’s leadership in reorienting the bureau towards its intended law enforcement mission, suggesting further action regarding the FBI’s actions against parents are necessary to rein in an increasingly unaccountable federal bureaucracy and restore credibility.
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