Senator Tom Cotton launched a scathing attack against Attorney General Merrick Garland during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday, asking him to “resign in disgrace” over a memo to Justice Department about intervening in violence, threats and intimidation against school board officials over issues such as critical race theory, COVID-19 precautions and transgender bathroom policies.

“Thank God you are not on the Supreme Court,” the Arkansas Republican said, referring to Garland’s failed confirmation to the high court in 2016. Garland’s appointment by former President Barack Obama was stalled by the then Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Cotton cornered Garland over the June 22 arrest of a Loudoun County man, Scott Smith, who was dragged out of a school board meeting for demanding accountability for the rape of his 15-year-old daughter by a boy who had reportedly been wearing women’s clothing at Stone Bridge High School in the girls’ bathroom.

Smith has accused Loudoun County schools of trying to shield the “sexual predator.”

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The boy was arrested for forced sodomy two months after the incident on May 28.

The boy is lodged in a juvenile detention center after his arrest in October for allegedly assaulting a different girl, at a different school.

The boy was charged with two counts of forcible sodomy for the May 28 attack and sexual battery for the October 6 attack, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said on October 13. On Tuesday, the boy was found guilty of forcible sodomy and forcible fellatio, and will return to court on November 15 for sentencing.

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“Do you apologize to Scott Smith and his 15-year-old daughter, judge?” Cotton asked Garland.

In response, Garland said rape is “the most horrific crime I can imagine” and that Scott is “entitled and protected by the First Amendment.”

The Justice Department’s memo promising to address a “rise in criminal conduct” at school board meetings came after the National School Boards Association (NSBA) sought help from President Joe Biden in a letter that also compared clashes between the school board and parents to domestic terrorism.

Garland commended the letter and called for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to investigate such parents.

“This is shameful. Your testimony, your directive is shameful. Your performance is shameful,” Cotton said.