On Friday, Gov. Ron DeSantis reengaged his political operation, with a fundraising email charging President Joe Biden with "weaponizing" the Department of Justice in pursuit of what the Governor calls "heinous indoctrination."

At issue for DeSantis: Attorney General Merrick Garland calling for moves that the Justice Department says are "designed to address the rise in criminal conduct directed toward school personnel."

Garland issued a memorandum calling for the FBI and U.S. Attorneys' Offices to meet in the next 30 days with federal, state, Tribal, territorial and local law enforcement leaders regarding the "disturbing trend" of threats against school board members, teachers and workers in public schools. At issue in many of these confrontations are issues ranging from masks to so-called critical race theory, and the confrontations have rattled administrators.

The email, signed by DeSantis himself, did not engage the nuance of the outlined strategy, but instead condemned it as another salvo from the Biden Administration in the culture war.

"Attorney General Merrick Garland is ordering the FBI to target, intimidate, and SILENCE parents who exercise their First Amendment rights at local school board meetings," the text reads. "This is an egregious abuse of power by the federal government and an all-out assault on parental rights."

"Parents have the right to be the voice for their children and protect them from radical curriculums like Critical Race Theory being taught in the classroom. And now, Joe Biden's Administration is attempting to silence parents speaking out against this heinous indoctrination of our children," the appeal continues.

Vowing to "stand side-by-side with Florida parents," DeSantis kept the language heated ahead of the call for donations.

"I will NOT allow Joe Biden to weaponize the federal government against Florida's parents, and we are going to fight like hell to protect the First Amendment rights of every parent in this state," DeSantis asserted.

The fundraising appeal offers a reminder of the Governor's vow this summer to get his "political apparatus" involved in school board races, and likely will only serve to boost the roughly $53 million the committee had on hand as of the end of August.

The Governor's Office had offered its own version of this pushback earlier this week.

"Attorney General Garland is weaponizing the DOJ by using the FBI to pursue concerned parents and silence them through intimidation," the Governor said. "Florida will defend the free speech rights of its citizens and will not allow federal agents to squelch dissent."

Garland frames the initiative differently, stressing that officials are being threatened.

"Threats against public servants are not only illegal, they run counter to our nation's core values," Garland wrote. "Those who dedicate their time and energy to ensuring that our children receive a proper education in a safe environment deserve to be able to do their work without fear for their safety."

Threats against board members are not hypotheticals. As the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported, School Board Chair Shirley Brown has had protesters outside her home, calling her a "tyrant" for backing a mask rule and calling for her resignation.

However, other leading Republicans in the state interpret the guidance as a way of squelching dissent rather than keeping public servants safe.

"They have normalized this behavior when it comes to left-wing protesters," U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio thundered. "But then, when it comes to a parent speaking out about a school board, they want to sic the FBI on them. This is crazy."

"If you'd told me five years ago this was going to happen, I'd have said there's no way. There's no way this is going to happen," Rubio added. "It's happening."

Rubio's position is shared by other prominent Florida Republicans, including Sen. Rick Scott.

"Joe Biden's attorney general wants the FBI to go after parents for speaking out at school board meetings to protect kids from radical curriculum like critical race theory," Scott tweeted. "Biden's disgusting socialist agenda must end. We won't let him intimidate & silence parents."