Willie R. Tubbs, FISM News
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It appears that FBI investigations into Catholic groups whose “radical-traditionalist” beliefs were equated to domestic terrorism might have been wider than Bureau Director Christopher Wray indicated in testimony to Congress in July.
Wray had previously indicated that a single office, FBI Richmond, had created a document warning of potential dangers from Catholic adherents who demonstrated “anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ and white supremacist ideology.” Back in February, the FBI promised an internal investigation and retracted the document.
Wednesday, though, the House Judiciary Committee released a less redacted version of the original memo that Republicans say shows a more expansive operation.
The memo indicates that investigators from the FBI’s Portland and Los Angeles offices were also involved in collecting the information that was used to suggest, according to the memo, that “new opportunities for threat mitigation” might exist.
“From information recently produced to the Committee, we now know that the FBI relied on information from around the country—including a liaison contact in the FBI’s Portland Field Office and reporting from the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office—to develop its assessment,” a letter from Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) to Wray reads. “This new information suggests that the FBI’s use of its law enforcement capabilities to intrude on American’s First Amendment rights is more widespread than initially suspected and reveals inconsistencies with your previous testimony before the Committee. Given this startling new information, we write to request additional information to advance our oversight.”
#BREAKING: Subpoenaed document reveals that the FBI Richmond Field Office coordinated with MULTIPLE field offices across the country to produce a memo targeting traditional Catholics as domestic terrorists
Wray previously said the actions were limited to “a single field office.” pic.twitter.com/5vyS2EXpml
— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) August 9, 2023
The letter continues, “This revelation raises the question of why you redacted this information in previous versions of the document you produced to the Committee, and it reinforces the Committee’s need for all FBI material responsive to the April 10 subpoena, including the production of FBI’s Richmond document without redactions. We look forward to receiving a briefing on the FBI’s internal review of this matter and to interviewing the Special Agent in Charge of the Richmond Field Office.”
On X, formerly Twitter, Johnson pointed out that Wray had failed to disclose the full extent of the Catholic investigation during his testimony.
“We now know *multiple* FBI field offices were targeting conservative Catholics as “potential domestic terrorists,’ Johnson tweeted. “This directly contradicts the sworn testimony of FBI Director Wray. What else are they hiding?”
We now know *multiple* FBI field offices were targeting conservative Catholics as “potential domestic terrorists.”
This directly contradicts the sworn testimony of FBI Director Wray.
What else are they hiding? https://t.co/GpXvl5niH8
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) August 9, 2023
According to an unredacted memo, the FBI used a “liaison contact with indirect access” in Portland and an undercover agent in California to expand upon its investigation.
All three field offices were monitoring the Society of St. Pius X, which was founded by a later excommunicated archbishop, Marcel Lefebvre, and has no direct links to the Vatican.
CONSERVATIVES PEG BIDEN AS ANTI-CATHOLIC
President Joe Biden is a member of the Catholic denomination – indeed, he and the late John F. Kennedy are the only Catholics to have served as president – but Republicans and conservatives alike have long criticized him as behaving counter to some core tenets of the church’s teachings.
Beyond his intense support of abortion, gender transitioning, and same-sex marriage – all of which the Catholic church has long opposed – Biden is also presiding over a Justice Department that, at least for a time, treated traditionalist views as a gateway to racism and terrorism.
Jordan tweeted, “They spied on parents speaking up at school board meetings. They raided President Trump’s home. They targeted traditional Catholics. Joe Biden’s Justice Department.”
-They spied on parents speaking up at school board meetings.
-They raided President Trump’s home.
-They targeted traditional Catholics.
Joe Biden’s Justice Department. https://t.co/4BSWUZNvUM
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) August 9, 2023
It is important to note that allegations of anti-Catholicism are purely conjecture on the part of Republicans, and could equally be argued as being anti-conservative or anti-traditionalist rather than specifically aimed at a denomination.
ANTI-CATHOLIC DISCRIMINATION ALLEGATION AT STATE LEVEL
Whether anti-traditionalist, anti-conservative, or anti-Cathlolic, conservatives continue to be targeted for opposing the orthodoxy of the left.
It is a fight that is beginning to be waged in court.
Tuesday, a Massachusetts couple filed a federal lawsuit against their home state, which they say is denying them the opportunity to serve as foster parents because of their beliefs on gender, sexuality, and marriage.
“After months of interviews and training, and after years of heartbreak, we were on the verge of finally becoming parents,” Mike and Catherine “Kitty” Burke said in a statement. “We were absolutely devastated to learn that Massachusetts would rather children sleep in the hallways of hospitals than let us welcome children in need into our home.”
The lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of the Burkes by the religious liberty group Becket Law, claims that the state denied the Burkes’ application solely on the grounds that they “would not be affirming to a child who identified as LGBTQIA.”
“As faithful Catholics, the Burkes believe that all children should be loved and supported, and they would never reject a child placed in their home,” the lawsuit reads. “They also believe that children should not undergo procedures that attempt to change their God-given sex, and they uphold Catholic beliefs about marriage and sexuality.”