Watchdog Sues DOJ For Records On Merrick Garland’s Role In Loudoun County Rape Scandal

A conservative watchdog group on Wednesday sued the Department of Justice to get to the bottom of Attorney General Merrick Garland’s alleged role in the targeting of concerned parents.

The White House reportedly worked with the National School Boards Association on the NBSA’s memo, which suggested invoking the anti-terrorist PATRIOT Act on parents and specifically singled out a Loudoun County father who was arrested for disorderly conduct. The Department of Justice then used that memo to mobilize the FBI against conservative parents. The Daily Wire revealed that the angry Loudoun dad–who a George Soros-funded prosecutor personally tried to put in jail–was incensed because the superintendent had lied about his daughter’s rape.

Virginia’s Republican attorney general, Jason Miyares, empaneled a special grand jury to investigate the rape coverup. The Democrat-run school system tried to shut the grand jury down, but the panel indicted the school system’s superintendent and spokesman.

In January, America First Legal (AFL), a group helmed by former Donald Trump official Stephen Miller, filed a Freedom of Information Act request for emails from Garland and other senior DOJ officials that concerned Loudoun County Public Schools or mentioned the rape victim’s family, the sexual assault, or the grand jury.

In April, the DOJ told AFL it would take “nine to 10 months” to search for the records, plus more time to review them. This week, AFL sued to compel the DOJ to provide the records.

“The Department of Justice refuses to timely process America First Legal’s request for records related to the empaneling of a grand jury to investigate a series of sexual assaults on a school campus in Loudoun, Virginia,” AFL said in a statement.

AFL General Counsel and Vice President Gene Hamilton told The Daily Wire the DOJ targeted parents who were simply concerned about what was taking place in their children’s classrooms.

“The Department of Justice predicated, at least in substantial part, a nationwide crackdown on the exercise of free speech by parents across America based upon things that they believed to be occurring in Loudoun County,” Hamilton said. “The American people have every right to see any of DOJ’s communications with or about Loudoun, and we will not cease in our fight to obtain and share the records with the American people.”

In a statement, AFL senior advisor and Loudoun resident Ian Prior said Garland, the NSBA, and the White House hatched the plan to investigate parents speaking at school board meetings in part to help the Virginia gubernatorial campaign of Democrat Terry McAuliffe. When the real story behind the father’s arrest came out, the plan “unraveled,” Prior said.

“The fallout led to Garland being asked about the assault by the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, a special grand jury convening in Loudoun County, and ultimately the indictment of the former superintendent,” Prior added. “Given what we now know about the Biden DOJ using Loudoun parents as scapegoats for its memo, it is imperative for the public to understand any further coordination by the DOJ with state and local officials following the truth getting out.”

Related: AFL Says Taxpayer-Funded Hospitals In Conservative States Are Transing Kids