A new report from the House Judiciary Committee provides further evidence that former FBI Director Christopher Wray severely misled Congress about the extent of the agency’s targeting of Catholics as an “extremist” threat – a discriminatory practice that went back to at least 2009. In one particularly shocking new detail, the FBI allegedly harassed a Catholic priest for information about one of his parishioners and tried to get him to reveal confidential information that is protected under law.
The latest revelations come from an interim staff report released by the House Judiciary Committee on “How the Biden-Wray FBI Manufactured a False Narrative of Catholic Americans as Violent Extremists.” The investigation stems from a January 2023 whistleblower report that alleged the agency was targeting conservative Catholics.
At the time, former FBI Director Christopher Wray and his agents claimed the memo was never used to target Catholics nationwide and was confined to just a “single field office” in Richmond, Virginia. The memo itself relied on baseless accusations from the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center as well as a much-criticized Atlantic article that compared the rosary, a set of beads used by millions of Catholics while praying, to a weapon.
But far from being a “one-off memo,” as Wray claimed, according to The Washington Times, the rot ran much deeper. In June, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) shared information with the news outlet that showed many more FBI offices and employees were urged to take action against Catholics.
“The new documents show that the Richmond memo dated Jan. 23, 2023, also known as the Richmond Domain perspective, was distributed on Feb. 2 to more than 1,000 FBI employees nationwide,” the Times reported. It has also been revealed that the agency began using the term “radical traditionalist Catholic” at least as far back as 2009. The pretext for the 2023 memo was allegedly one individual arrested in 2022 over extremism concerns. Offices in Los Angeles, Portland, and Buffalo were also involved, as was eventually disclosed.
The new report, out late last month, provides further information on the extent of the falsehoods and lies from the once-respected FBI. It also details what appear to be blatant instances of FBI agents violating federal law and First Amendment freedoms.
In one instance, an agent tried to question a Virginia priest about a parishioner. When the priest said he could not share what was discussed with the member of his flock, the agent said the communications were not protected. The parishioner, the FBI agent argued, had not been baptized yet.
But as the House report notes, “The priest-penitent privilege rightly protects communications between a clergy member and an individual seeking spiritual guidance – it is not dependent on the individual achieving certain milestones in his or her spiritual life.”
Put another way, individuals who seek guidance from priests do not need to be regular parishioners or donors or even have received sacraments. The mere fact that they are talking to a priest as someone seeking guidance and information about the Catholic faith protects their communications.
This is basic First Amendment freedom of religion that every law enforcement officer should know. Furthermore, Virginia law explicitly protects “priest-penitent privilege,” as The Daily Wire reported.
The FBI agent did not just confine his work to the Richmond office – the report shows how he involved his colleagues in Louisville and even an overseas office in London. The FBI tracked the priest’s flight information, credit card and tried to get a terrorism unit in the United Kingdom involved, all because the priest refused to give private information about a parishioner to the FBI.
“Contrary to assertions from Director Wray and the head of the Richmond Field Office, the FBI collaborated extensively among field offices and FBI Headquarters—and even international law-enforcement partners—to take investigative steps relating to topics referenced in the Richmond memorandum,” the House report noted.
But there’s a bigger issue at play.
Documents released as part of the investigation also confirm that while “radical traditionalist Catholics” may have been the named target of the FBI’s anti-Catholic bigotry, the agency has been engaged in a broader campaign against the tens of millions of Americans who oppose abortion, gender ideology, or support other traditional family values.
As highlighted in the report, an FBI briefing on “Traditionalist Catholicism” said “adherents” hold “hardline positions on abortion” and “LGBTQ matters” and support “Conservative family values/roles.”
Opposition to abortion, transgender procedures, and the belief that children benefit from a mom and dad are positions not unique to Catholicism, of course, but are also held by millions of Jews, Muslims, Protestants, and even those who do not adhere to any religion.
The latest Judiciary Committee report relies on thousands of pages of internal FBI documents released so far, with more set to come out in the months ahead. It may well be that the scandal goes even deeper, and that the initial story out of one field office was just the tip of the iceberg in an agency-wide conspiracy to target everyone who disagrees with the liberal-left worldview.
Matt Lamb is a contributor for AMAC Newsline and an associate editor for The College Fix. He previously worked for Students for Life of America, Students for Life Action, and Turning Point USA. He previously interned for Open the Books. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Examiner, The Federalist, LifeSiteNews, Human Life Review, Headline USA, and other outlets. The opinions expressed are his own. Follow him @mattlamb22 on X.
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