An American Thinker commentary published Wednesday argues that a Justice Department review released October 5 confirms longstanding suspicions about the Biden administration’s 2021 directive on parental protests at school board meetings — and reveals the effort went further than previously disclosed.
The op-ed, written by frequent contributor Mike McDaniel, characterizes the findings as evidence that federal law enforcement was directed toward parents who objected to COVID-era school policies and curriculum decisions, with a task force established to explore federal enforcement options and 25 so-called “Guardian assessments” opened on parents by the FBI.
According to the piece, the original October 4, 2021, memorandum from then-Attorney General Merrick Garland was distributed to then-FBI Director Christopher Wray, the assistant attorney general for the Criminal Division, the director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, and U.S. attorneys. The White House, McDaniel writes, later engaged with the memo’s “problematic propositions.”
What the DOJ Review Reportedly Found
The essay quotes a DOJ press release dated October 5, which described what it called “among the most egregious findings” — that exhibits showed individuals in the Biden White House and among Garland’s advisors wanted federal law enforcement and prosecutors involved in matters involving parents and school boards. The memo, per the release, established a task force to identify federal enforcement options for investigating and prosecuting parents.
One detail the piece highlights is a whistleblower disclosure that a mother was investigated in part because she “is a gun owner” and belonged to what was described as a “right-wing mom’s group.”
McDaniel’s op-ed also cites anonymous whistleblowers whose frustrations are quoted in the DOJ findings. One reportedly said the initiative should be renamed “the Anti-MAGA Task Force.” Another described it as “a partisan exercise aimed at those who do not support the Administration.” A third emphasized that the issues involved had nothing to do with federal officers.
A Broader Pattern of Surveillance, the Piece Alleges
McDaniel frames the parental investigations as one thread in a larger pattern of what he describes as weaponization of federal agencies against political opponents. He points to past reporting that the FBI surveilled and investigated what were termed “radical traditional Catholics,” and to parents who attended school board meetings to object to curriculum content.
When those earlier efforts drew scrutiny, McDaniel writes, officials including Wray claimed the violations were unauthorized, limited to a few rogue employees, and had been shut down. The new findings, in his telling, show those assurances were not accurate.
The essay also asserts that the Biden administration was aware its COVID policies were “fraudulent” — a characterization the piece supports with references to school band members playing instruments inside individual tents and singers wearing face masks while standing six feet apart. McDaniel describes the era as “a trial run to see how much liberty Americans would surrender.”
The commentary invokes Benjamin Franklin’s famous warning about trading essential liberty for temporary safety, arguing that while the public accepted the restrictions for a time, the backlash has made similar government action unlikely in the future.
What’s Happening Now
The op-ed notes that the current DOJ is investigating whether it should issue formal apologies to individuals targeted under the 2021 memo. It also reports that the department is partnering with the National Association of School Resource Officers to inform schools and school boards about parental rights.
McDaniel credits the second Trump administration for the disclosures and the corrective efforts, writing that “none of these revelations and attempts to rein in totalitarian government would have happened” otherwise. He also raises concerns about FBI personnel under Director Kash Patel, suggesting the bureau is working to identify what he calls deep state operatives who may be waiting for a future Democratic administration to resume similar enforcement.
The piece closes with a dark warning about the durability of democratic institutions, quoting the line that “we deserve what we vote for, and we’ll get it good and hard.”
As with any commentary relying on whistleblower accounts and internal departmental findings, the full documentary record — including the underlying exhibits referenced in the DOJ release — would be needed to independently verify each claim. The American Thinker essay presents these findings as established fact, but readers should note the piece is an opinion column synthesizing a DOJ press release and prior reporting, not an independent investigation.
Source: www.americanthinker.com — https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/10/the-biden-doj-and-fbi-did-what/