2021 email shows DOJ's public corruption chief flagged a Loudoun group that listed parents

As the Justice Department drafted its response to threats against school officials in October 2021, one of its senior prosecutors pointed to reported threats running the other way: against parents in Loudoun County.

The Oct. 2, 2021 email from Corey Amundson, then chief of the Criminal Division's Public Integrity Section, is reprinted in a 273-page report released this week by the department's Weaponization Working Group. The report, dated Oct. 5, examines how former Attorney General Merrick Garland came to issue his Oct. 4, 2021 memorandum on threats against school administrators, board members, teachers and staff.

Amundson was responding to draft documents circulated that Saturday by Associate Deputy Attorney General Kevin Chambers. The drafts included a proposed attorney general memo and a "School Board Threats Response Strategy." According to the report, both proposed using federal investigative and prosecutorial authority in response to a Sept. 29, 2021 letter from the National School Boards Association.

In a bullet headed "What about the reported threats against parents?" Amundson wrote that "a media outlet reports that a group of current and former teachers and others in Loudoun County, Virginia, compiled a lengthy list of parents suspected of disagreeing with school system actions, including its teaching of controversial racial concepts." He wrote that the list's stated purpose was "in part to 'infiltrate,' use 'hackers' to silence parents' communications, and 'expose these people publicly.'"

Quoting NBC News, Amundson added that "the decision to compile names was perceived as a threat" and that parents named by the group "said they didn't know what the group was planning, and they feared for their safety." He wrote that the group that compiled the list was then "reportedly bombarded with threats, some directed at their children," and that the school board added extra security at public meetings.

"Parents on both sides of the issue said they filed reports with the sheriff's department and installed security cameras," Amundson wrote. "The conflict quickly became intertwined with political campaigns, with candidates lining up for whichever side supports their policy position. Bottom line: This is all very messy and political."

In the same email, he recommended that the department "consider focusing almost exclusively on grants and providing state and local law enforcement with technical assistance" through its community policing office and other components. He also noted that Fox News was already reporting on the NSBA's request under a headline about the Patriot Act.

Earlier that evening, Amundson had written that the proposed effort "will be viewed by many as a partisan exercise aimed at those who do not support the Administration." He said tying it to the department's election-threats task force would "tarnish PIN's reputation as an apolitical law enforcer." PIN is the Public Integrity Section. "PIN has been proud to lead the effort against election-related threats, but we did not sign up for this and object in the strongest terms," he wrote.

The report summarizes the email without naming Amundson. It says a Criminal Division attorney "noted that the draft memorandum failed to address 'reported threats against parents.'" The attachments name him as the author.

Garland's memo was issued two days later, on Oct. 4. It focused on threats against school personnel and did not address threats against parents.

The Loudoun group Amundson described also came up at a June 11, 2026 DOJ roundtable whose transcript appears in the report. Ian Prior, a Loudoun parent who is now senior counsel at America First Legal, said a Facebook group called the "Anti-Racist Parents of Loudoun County" formed in March 2021. He said it "was determined to find all the parents that opposed school closure and mask policies" and related school policies. In Prior's account, the group wanted to "expose those parents, send mailers to those parents' neighborhoods, hack their platforms, infiltrate their groups." Prior said six school board members belonged to the group. The report does not independently verify that claim.

Prior said he later started Fight for Schools, which sought to remove school board members. He described a yearlong campaign of harassment against his family.

The working group concludes that internal objections like Amundson's were never "fully addressed" by department leadership. It says the memo was the product of pressure from senior Biden administration officials working with the NSBA. The report does not include responses from Garland, Chambers or other former officials it names. It also does not say whether the federal government ever took action regarding threats against Loudoun parents.

Email the Loudoun County School Board:
April Chandler, april.chandler@lcps.org,
Anne Donohue, anne.donohue@lcps.org,
Deana Griffiths, deana.griffiths@lcps.org,
Ross Svenson, ross.stevenson@lcps.org,
Kari LaBell, kari.labell@lcps.org,
Jon Pepper, jonathon.pepper@lcps.org,
Lauren Shernoff, lauren.shernoff@lcps.org,
Sumera Rashid, sumera.rashid@lcps.org,
Amy Riccardi, amy.riccardi@lcps.org,

Loudoun County is a county in Northern Virginia. Its county seat is Leesburg.