The Biden administration’s war on conservative Christians was more expansive than initially thought or admitted to by the FBI, a new report indicates.
The conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch has released 98 pages of documents obtained through a public records request that show an anti-Catholic advisory issued by the FBI earlier this year was not contained just to the Richmond field office, as FBI Director Christopher Wray had told Congress.
The document was “a single product by a single field office,” Wray testified in August.
But Judicial Watch reported that the newest records show the analysis was assembled with help from FBI agents in Portland and Milwaukee.
Read: Florida Gov. DeSantis Pledges To Help Christian Vet Who Demolished Satanic Display In Iowa
It was also reviewed at the highest levels of the FBI. The new records indicate that the FBI’s Office of General Counsel also played a role in its release.
As the Tampa Free Press reported in February, the FBI in Richmond circulated a memo claiming that “Radical-Traditionalist Catholics” or RTCs, who are known primarily by a fondness for the Latin mass and criticism of the liberal reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, can demonstrate “adherence to anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ and white supremacist ideology.”
The memo suggested the FBI could use spies inside Catholic parishes to monitor any rhetoric or actions by the RTCs.
In one of the documents shared Friday by Judicial Watch, the FBI noted, “FBI Richmond assesses the increasingly observed interest of racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists (RMVEs) in radical-traditionalist Catholic (RTC) ideology almost certainly presents opportunities for threat mitigation through the exploration of new avenues for tripwire and source development.”
In an apparent attempt to cover itself, one FBI memo related to the report by the Richmond office noted, “Potential criminality exhibited by certain members of a group referenced herein does not negate nor is it a comment on the constitutional rights of the group itself or its members to exercise their rights under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The FBI does not investigate, collect, or maintain information on U.S. persons solely for the purpose of monitoring activities protected by the First Amendment.”
Read: Op-Ed: It’s Time For The Fed To Ditch The Most Lame-Brained Theory In Economics
Still, that does not satisfy why the memo was created in the first place, said advocates for Catholics targeted by the FBI.
Tim Huelskamp, a former congressman from Kansas and now senior adviser to the group conservative group CatholicVote, said in press release issued by Judicial Watch, “Since last February, we have worked to expose this unconstitutional targeting of faithful Catholics by the FBI, and the results are stunning, unprecedented, and should concern all Americans.”
“Contrary to statements under oath by Director Wray and Attorney General [Merrick] Garland, this flagrantly anti-Catholic program by the FBI was widespread, fully supported by senior officials, authorized undercover agents to infiltrate Catholic parishes, attempted to influence elections, and may be ongoing. Meanwhile, the Biden administration has stood idly by as Catholic churches have been attacked more than 200 times since May of 2022.”
That last sentence referred to attacks that occurred after the Supreme Court’s draft ruling overturning Roe. v Wae was leaked to the media.
In his own statement, Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said, “These documents disprove the FBI’s narrative that the spy operation against Catholics and churches was limited to one field office. In fact, the operation seems to have been approved by top lawyers in the FBI. These documents should trigger a criminal inquiry into this Biden FBI scandal.”
Android Users, Click To Download The Free Press App And Never Miss A Story. Follow Us On Facebook and Twitter. Sign up for our free newsletter.
We can’t do this without your help. Visit our GiveSendGo page and donate any dollar amount; every penny helps.