Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee accused Biden's Attorney General Merrick Garland of a conflict of interest over his son-in-law's education company that allegedly utilizes tenets of Critical Race Theory, in a contentious hearing on Thursday.
It was Garland's first appearance before the panel.
'Published reports show that your son-in-law co-founded a company called Panorama Education - We now know that company publishes and sells Critical Race Theory and so-called antiracism materials to schools across the country and it works with school districts nationwide to obtain and analyze data on students, often without parental consent,' Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) said.
Garland defended his memo by saying that 'nothing in this memorandum which has any effect on the kinds of curriculum that are taught.'
Johnson accused Garland of a conflict of interest by cracking down on anti-CRT parents.
'Did you seek ethics counsel before you issued a letter that directly relates to the financial interests of your family - yes or no?' he asked.
Garland denied that his memo had anything to do with the controversial theory.
Johnson asked if Garland would submit to an ethics review to which Garland repeatedly insisted the memo wasn't related to CRT.
It's Garland's first appearance before the House Judiciary Committee. In his opening statement Garland condemned the Capitol rioters and vowed to fight for civil rights
'There is no company in America or hopefully no law-abiding citizen in America who believes that threats of violence should not be prevented,' Garland said. 'There are no conflicts of interest that anyone could have.'
Johnson dismissed Garland's repetition as 'talking points' and said 'this raises questions in the minds of millions of Americans.'
'Your impartiality is being called into question, why would you not submit to a simple ethics review?'
Garland snapped back that he was 'exquisitely aware of the ethics requirements.'
'But you didn't follow them,' Johnson shot back.
'I have followed them and lived with them for the last 25 years,' an angered Garland replied.
Earlier this month Garland issued a memo directing the FBI to work with law enforcement to crack down on a 'disturbing trend' of violent incidents at school board meetings and education settings. The normally apolitical field has become an ideological battleground as parents express outrage at mask mandates and critical race theory being taught in schools.
He wrote the memo after a letter from the National School Boards Association compared those parents to domestic terrorists.
Rep. Dan Bishop speaks with Rep. Jim Jordan during the heated House Judiciary hearing
A parents group pointed out that Garland's son in law, Xan Tanner, is the founder of Panorama Education, which they claimed was being used in schools to ask young children about their sexual orientation and preferred gender.
Xan Tanner, Garland's son-in-law, has lucrative contracts with multiple school districts through his company
'Your memo appears to have been motivated by politics more than any pressing federal law enforcement need, and that is concerning to us and it's worthy of an investigation,' Johnson said. 'It also concerns us that your actions may have been motivated by your family's financial stake in this issue.'
At another point, Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC) questioned whether meetings between local and federal law enforcement that he directed to occur within '30 days' of issuing his memo were actually occurring.
Garland again failed to provide a direct answer, claiming he hoped the directive was being carried out.
'I don't know whether they're ongoing but I expect and hope that they are going,' he said. 'I doubt there have been meetings in every jurisdiction.'
Bishop replied, 'Doesn't that make it worse, Mr. Attorney General, if you don't even know if these meetings that you directed urgently to occur, are occurring?'
'What is left indeed of the memo, except that your use of federal law enforcement moral authority to stigmatize widespread movement of first amendment activity, at least a significant portion of which is directed on the ideology by which your son-in-law makes a living?'
The hearing got off to a contentious start, with Republicans accusing Democrats of censorship
AG Merrick Garland issued this memo warning parents that they will face prosecution for protesting against schools and teachers in a way the government deems to be threatening
Attorney General Merrick Garland's daughter Rebecca (far left) is married to the co-founder of Zuckerberg-backed education group Panorama Education
Republicans demand Garland appoint special counsel to probe Hunter Biden
At one point in the heated hearing Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) pressed Garland to appoint a special counsel to investigate President Joe Biden's son Hunter.
In a bizarre opening to his question time Buck displayed famous artworks by Claude Monet and Edgar Degas, which he claims are worth $700,000 and $500,000 respectively.
In fact the Money sold for $57.3 million in London in 2014, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The following painting was one by the president's son, which was valued by Georges Berges Gallery at $500,000.
'A single piece of art from Hunter Biden sells for more than the average American home,' the lawmaker said.
Laughter erupted in the tense chamber when Buck revealed the work.
'You may think that when Hunter Biden is in such exclusive company that he would have a background, artistic training for example. But you would be wrong if you thought that,' he said.
He claimed that Hunter couldn't find a gallery to list his work in 2019 - before his father became president.
'By the way Mr. Attorney General, this is the same Hunter Biden being investigated by your department and the IRS for tax fraud,' Buck said, questioning who would buy his art if not someone looking to curry favor with the Biden White House.
During his time to speak, Rep. Ken Buck questioned Garland on whether he would appoint a special counsel to probe Hunter Biden. He claimed that the White House was fueling an ethics violation by letting the president's son sell his art at prices similar to what classic works sell for
Garland appeared confused when Buck showed him several artworks and said he wasn't familiar with Hunter Biden's painting
Buck asked Garland if he would appoint a special counsel to investigate the recovering drug addict.
Garland said he wasn't able to discuss 'pending investigations.'
At another point, Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) questioned Garland on the guidelines for appointing a special counsel - and appeared to accuse the president himself of potentially committing a crime.
'There have been multiple reports that Hunter Biden made enormous sums of money, and he's admitted that's because of his family ties. Now that, by itself, might not be a crime,' McClintock said.
'But there have also now been multiple reports that emails and communications from Hunter Biden have indicated that his finances are intermingled with those of his father's.'
He asked Garland, 'If that doesn't call for an independent investigation, the president, what would?'
Garland again declined to comment on any specific investigation but pointed out that Hunter Biden was already under investigation in Delaware.
Garland denies angry parents are 'domestic terrorists'
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) kicked off Garland's hearing on a raucous note with an opening statement attacking Garland and his Democratic colleagues.
'The chairman just said Trump's DOJ was political. Are you kidding me?' Jordan asked in response to Chair Rep. Jerry Nadler's opening statement.
He accused the DOJ of 'opening a snitch line on parents' with his memo announcing a crackdown on school board meeting incidents and giving lawmakers who asked about it 'the finger.'
'Republicans on this committee have sent the Attorney General 13 letters in the last six months,' he said. 'Eight of the letters, we've got nothing - they just gave us the finger.'
'Folks all around the country, they tell me, for the first time they are afraid of their government.'
In his opening remarks Jordan cited a line in Garland's order establishing 'dedicated lines of communication for threat reporting' to discuss the matter.
Jordan blasted Garland's memo on school board protests as a 'snitch line' on concerned parents
'A snitch line on parents, started five days after a left wing political organization asked for it. If that's not political I don't know what is,' he said. 'Where's the dedicated lines of communication with local leaders regarding our southern border?'
'Nope, can't do that, the Biden Justice Department is going to go after parents who object to some racist, hate-American curriculum.'
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) pressed Garland on allegations that a 'boy wearing a skirt' raped and sexually harassed two girls at two different Loudoun County high schools, though Garland denied having knowledge of the case.
Asked whether the FBI was investigating the matter Garland said, 'I don't believe so but I don't know.'
Videos of the alleged victim's father being violently restrained by law enforcement at a Loudoun County schoolboard meeting after speaking out in fury went viral and sparked Republican outrage.
'Attorney General do you believe that a father attending a meeting exercising his First Amendment rights and yes, getting angry, about whatever lies are being told about his daughter getting raped at the school he sent her to be educated in,
