Judicial Watch Files Lawsuit against U.S. Department of Education for Records on Book Bans, Moms for Liberty, and Ron DeSantis

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit on behalf the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF) against the U.S. Department of Education (ED) for records regarding book bans, the organization Moms for Liberty, and Ron DeSantis (Daily Caller News Foundation v. U.S Department of Education (No. 1:23-cv-02768)).

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the Department of Education failed to respond to separate August 8, 2023, requests for:

• All email records (including attachments, URL links and electronic database links) of Miguel Cardona to or from (President of the National Education Association (NEA)) Rebecca (Becky) Pringle and (President of the American Federation of Teachers) Rhonda “Randi” Weingarten from June 1, 2023, to July 15, 2023, on the ed.gov domain.
  • All communications about book bans or book banning.
  • All communications about Moms for Liberty and/or Ron DeSantis.

And:

• All email records (including attachments, URL links and electronic database links) sent and/or received by Miguel Cardona to or from any/all: President of the American Library Association Emily Drabinski, from June 1, 2023, to July 15, 2023, on the ed.gov domain.
• • All communications about book bans or book banning.
  • All communications about Moms for Liberty.

On July 4, 2023, EducationWeek reported on a speech Cardona gave on July 3 in Orlando, FL, at the NEA’s annual representative assembly. Cardona addressed statements regarding “woke ideology” and “indoctrinating” students made by Republican presidential candidates at the Moms for Liberty National Conference in the days prior to the NEA event:

Cardona dismissed that type of rhetoric as “divisive drama,” slamming conservative policymakers who have pushed for book bans, restrictions on instruction about racism, limitations on the rights of LGBTQ+ students, and school choice policies that divert public money to private schools.

Moms for Liberty was founded in 2021 in Florida by two former school board members. The group was initially fought against mask mandates in Florida schools. The group then expanded its mission to support parental rights legislation to give parents more say in their children’s education. The parents group has come under increasing attack by the extremist left.

“The Biden administration can’t be allowed to hide this information from the American people,” said Daily Caller News Foundation Editor-In-Chief Michael Bastasch. “Citizens have a right to know if their government is plotting against moms or working behind the scenes to keep pornographic books in schools.”

“This lawsuit aims to uncover the truth about the desperate new effort by the Biden administration and its leftist teachers’ union allies to smear and target parents who oppose sexually explicit and other extremist content being made available to schoolchildren,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

Separately, Judicial Watch filed suit in June against the U.S. Department of Justice for all FBI communications from bureau officials using several systems and databases regarding investigations carried out after an October 4, 2021, memo from Attorney General Merrick Garland instructing investigators to target American parents due to an alleged “increase in harassment, intimidation and threats of violence against school board members, teachers and workers in our nation’s public schools”

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