FBI using 'counterterrorism tools' to monitor threats to school boards, whistleblower email shows

The email, which was signed by Timothy Langan, the FBI’s assistant director for counterterrorism, said the Counterterrorism Division and Criminal Division had created a "threat tag" for FBI officials to use. The email directs bureau agents to tag threats as “EDUOFFICIALS” and to "attempt to identify" the motivation behind the threat and whether there are "federal violations that can be investigated and charged."

“The purpose of the threat tag is to help scope this threat on a national level and provide an opportunity for comprehensive analysis of the threat picture for effective engagement with law enforcement partners at all levels,” the email said.

House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jim Jordan disclosed the email to Garland in a letter Tuesday, saying it “calls into question” the accuracy of Garland’s testimony to the committee last month. The email was sent the day before Garland’s Oct. 21 testimony.

“At best if we assume that you were ignorant of the FBI’s actions in response to your October 4 memorandum at the time of your testimony, this evidence suggests that your testimony to the committee was incomplete and requires additional explanation,” Jordan wrote.

The Ohio Republican said Garland likely misled the House Judiciary Committee. He noted a key back-and-forth in which Garland denied an accusation from Rep. Steve Chabot, another Ohio Republican, that the DOJ was treating parents like "domestic terrorists" and possibly using PATRIOT Act powers to monitor them.