Ahead of General Merrick Garland’s appearance in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz listed five questions the embattled attorney general needed to be asked.
“Number one, why did the Department of Justice cater to the wishes of partisan activists who want to teach critical race theory in schools and think that parents are domestic terrorists? Number two, the Loudoun County School Board covered up a sexual assault by a gender fluid individual against a ninth grade girl. And instead of going after the school board, Merrick Garland attacked the victim’s father in his memo against parents. Did Merrick Garland know about this cover-up and the brutal sexual assault when he issued that political and partisan memo?” Cruz asked in a video, obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller.
Garland wrote in a letter to top FBI officials that field agents should “convene meetings with federal, state, local, Tribal, and territorial leaders in each federal judicial district” for the purpose of “addressing threats against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff.” Garland sent his letter shortly after the National School Board Association (NSBA) submitted a letter to President Joe Biden claiming that “acts of malice, violence, and threats against public school officials” could constitute “domestic terrorism.” (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Banks Demands Explanation Of NSBA Domestic Terrorism Letter)
Following public outcry and reports that the group had coordinated with the White House on messaging, the NSBA walked back the letter.
Cruz also cited reports that Garland’s son-in-law profits from an education company that promotes concepts associated with critical race theory. Garland has denied any conflict of interest between his son-in-law’s business and the NSBA messaging.
“Number three, there are troubling questions about Garland’s apparent conflict of interest with his son-in-law. His son-in-law makes a whole bunch of money with a company teaching critical race theory — do ethics matter to the Biden administration?” Cruz asks.
“Number four, Garland also needs to answer questions about whether the Department of Justice is investigating Anthony Fauci for lying to Congress,” Cruz continued. “Fauci told Congress that the administration had not funded gain of function research on the Wuhan virus. That is a lie. Will the Biden administration pursue charges?”
During a May appearance in front of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, White House Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci denied that his agency, the National Institute on Allergy and Infectious Disease, funded gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology through a grant to the non-profit EcoHealth Alliance. Fauci described Paul’s questioning as “entirely and completely incorrect.”
However, National Institutes of Health Principal Deputy Director Lawrence Tabak admitted in an Oct. 21 letter to House Oversight and Reform Committee Ranking Member and Republican Kentucky Rep. James Comer that EcoHealth Alliance’s experiments should be considered gain-of-function research, and that the organization had not been fully transparent with the U.S. government.
Finally, Cruz addressed reports that first responders could resign or be fired due to non-compliance with COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
“Number five, finally, in America’s second city, nearly a third of Chicago’s Police Department could be dismissed due to vaccination status. Garland needs to answer if Biden’s COVID mandates are hurting communities suffering from crime and why first responders, why the heroes of our communities are the victims of Joe Biden’s illegal vaccine mandate,” he concluded.