Friday | October 22nd, 2021

It’s Friday, October 22nd, and this is your Morning Wire. Listen to the full podcast:

1) Attorney General Testifies Before Congress 

The Topline: U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland testified to Congress on Thursday regarding several issues, including his recent memo calling on the FBI to investigate threats of violence against teachers and school board meetings. 

Quote Of The Day: “The Justice Department supports and defends the First Amendment right of parents to complain as vociferously as they wish… That is not what the memorandum is about at all.”

– Attorney General Merrick Garland

Michael Reynolds/EPA/Bloomberg/Contributor via Getty Images

The Hearing

Garland’s recent memo to DOJ employees announced that the FBI would investigate threats or intimidation by parents against school boards. Many viewed this as an attempt to silence parents who disagree with school policy by labeling them as “domestic terrorists.”

Critical Race Theory (CRT) was also featured in the memo, adding to the widespread outrage.

Critical Race Theory 

Loudoun County Public Schools has been the subject of many CRT-related reports, as well as a sexual assault scandal reported by The Daily Wire. 

Representative Chip Roy questioned Garland on the sexual assault scandal, but Garland repeatedly claimed he wasn’t familiar with the case.

When the subject of CRT in schools came up during questioning, Garland refused to answer whether or not he sought ethics guidance regarding his family connections to a company which promotes CRT in schools.

Scott Olson/Staff/Getty Images

2) Police Nationwide Fight Vaccine Mandates

The Topline: As vaccine mandates go into effect at police departments in several major cities, some officers are pushing back.

NYC, Chicago

After New York City announced a vaccine mandate on Wednesday, New York’s largest police union said it will initiate legal action – as fewer than 70% of the New York Police Department is vaccinated. 

In Chicago, city employees were required to report their vaccination status on Friday, but over 3,200 Chicago cops are refusing to do so, according to the Fraternal Order of Police.

The Fraternal Order of Police and the city of Chicago have sued each other over the mandate, with the police union president, John Catanzara, arguing the vaccine mandate is illegal because the city did not negotiate its terms with the police union.

San Francisco

San Francisco was the first major city to require all of