Top DOJ Lawyers Reject Biden Push to Criminalize School Board Protesters

By the Editorial Team · Tuesday, October 6, 2026

Senior Justice Department officials warned against launching federal criminal probes into parents protesting school board policies, viewing the efforts as politically driven and legally unjustified. Despite calls from the National School Boards Association to treat some protests as domestic terrorism, no such charges were filed, and the DOJ ultimately questioned the appropriateness of a federal response to largely local matters.

Senior Justice Department officials expressed strong reservations last year about efforts within the Biden administration to initiate federal criminal investigations into parents who protested at school board meetings over mask mandates and critical race theory, according to internal emails released Monday.

The communications, exchanged in the fall of 2021 among top attorneys in the Deputy Attorney General’s office, reveal that key Justice Department figures viewed the push for probes as politically motivated and legally unwarranted. Several officials condemned the proposal, which aimed to treat certain protests as potential domestic terrorism under the PATRIOT Act, describing it as misguided and counterproductive.

Robyn Thiemann, an attorney in the Deputy Attorney General’s office, dismissed the effort as “ridiculous” in a September 25, 2021 email. Corey Amundson, chief of the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section of the Criminal Division, labeled the initiative “stupid, stupid, stupid.” Kevin Driscoll, deputy assistant attorney general at the time, criticized the approach as intentionally undermining its effectiveness while appearing politically charged.

These comments followed a September 29, 2021 letter from National School Boards Association (NSBA) President Chip Slaven, who warned that U.S. public schools faced an “immediate threat” due to protests surrounding COVID-19 protocols and accusations of critical race theory being introduced in curricula. Slaven urged the federal government to deploy the PATRIOT Act’s powers to address what he described as “acts of malice, violence, and threats” against school officials, suggesting some incidents might constitute domestic terrorism or hate crimes.

Despite this request, no parents have been charged with domestic terrorism related to school board protests. However, law enforcement reportedly opened at least 25 investigations into such activities following the letter.

By October 22, 2021, the NSBA publicly distanced itself from the letter’s characterization of parents, issuing an apology that recognized the importance of local school boards’ work alongside the vital role of parents’ voices in educational decisions. The board emphasized that parental input should remain central in matters of children’s education, health, and safety.

The Biden administration had been in consultation with the NSBA and other organizations about rising tensions at school board meetings since July 2021, but internal DOJ attorneys became increasingly skeptical after the September letter’s circulation. Then-Associate Deputy Attorney General Kevin Chambers questioned the necessity of a federal response, noting that the issues raised were largely “state/local in character.”

These revelations highlight internal disagreements within the Justice Department regarding the appropriate use of federal resources and legal tools to address contentious school board protests during a politically charged period in the country’s recent history.

This article was reported by synthesizing coverage from multiple independent news outlets to present a balanced, unbiased account. Read about our editorial standards. Spotted an error? Let us know.