AG Garland's potential conflict of interest on son-in-law's firm backing critical race theory under scrutiny

A conservative government watchdog is seeking information related to reports that Attorney General Merrick Garland's son-in-law is the co-founder of a company that promotes critical race theory (CRT) in the classroom.

America First Legal (AFL) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with DOJ on Wednesday seeking records related to Garland's Oct. 4 memo, which directed DOJ's National Security Division and the FBI to investigate "threatening" parents at school board meetings speaking out against CRT.

Garland's directive has been criticized for politicizing DOJ because it came just days after a controversial letter from the National School Boards Association (NSBA) to President Biden, suggesting that parents pushing back during school board meetings are engaging in "domestic terrorism." Now, Garland is also under increased scrutiny for his son-in-law's ties to a company that backs CRT.

In 2018, Garland's daughter Rebecca married Xan Tanner, co-founder of Panorama Education, a consultancy tied to Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg's charitable foundation – dubbed the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative – was listed in 2017 as one of several organizations that gave a collective $16 million to Panorama, which would use that for social-emotional efforts.