The House Committee on the Judiciary has sent a letter to FBI Director Chris Wray seeking answers concerning a recently leaked memo that identified “radical-traditionalist Catholics” as potential domestic security threats.
As reported by The Dallas Express, an internal memo from the Richmond field office of the FBI suggested that “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists” have been connected to “radical-traditionalist Catholic” ideology, which the bureau defined as an “anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ and white supremacist ideology.”
Although the agency has since retracted the document and claimed it failed to “meet the exacting standards of the FBI,” concerns persist that the incident signals wider issues.
Calling the memo a “serious misuse of federal law-enforcement resources,” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) asked for “additional information” concerning “the FBI’s targeting of a set of Catholic Americans for their religious beliefs.”
Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), the chairman of the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, also signed on to the letter.
“There remain many questions about the genesis, review, and approval of this document, as well as the FBI’s commitment to upholding First Amendment protected activity,” the letter continued.
Jordan and Johnson went on to request “[a]ll documents and communications referring or relating to intelligence products about ‘racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists’ and ‘radical-traditionalist Catholics’ for the period of January 20, 2021, to the present.”
Additionally, the duo sought any documents or communications “referring or relating to the basis for the” memo and a list of “FBI investigations, local law enforcement agency reporting, and liaison reporting … that the FBI’s Richmond Field Office relied upon to make its assessment.”
Lastly, the letter requested that Director Wray produce a list of “all FBI employees involved in drafting, reviewing, approving, or disseminating” the original memo.
Director Wray was given a deadline of March 2 and reminded him that the Judiciary Committee had been charged with the oversight of the FBI.
Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA) were copied on the letter, as they are the ranking Democrat members on the Judiciary Committee and the subcommittee, respectively.
The Dallas Express reached out to Nadler’s and Scanlon’s offices for comment, but neither responded prior to publication. Neither has commented publicly on the retracted FBI memo or the letter sent to Wray by their Republican colleagues.
