FBI targeting Catholics was more extensive than reported

The FBI targeted traditionalist Catholics as potential terrorists was more extensive than previously admitted, House Republicans say.

Republican leadership on the House Judiciary Committee revealed in a letter sent to FBI Director Christopher Wray this week that the document they subpoenaed from the agency details how “both FBI Portland and FBI Los Angeles field offices were involved in or contributed to the creation of FBI’s assessment of traditional Catholics as potential domestic terrorists.”

“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,” Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and co-chair Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., wrote in the letter, according to news reports. The information also contradicts Wray’s congressional testimony that the FBI’s anti-Catholic initiative was “a single product by a single field office.”

The FBI Richmond internal memo, titled “Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities,” was leaked in January and drew instant criticism from Republicans. It identified “radical-traditionalist Catholics” as potential “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists” and said that “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists in radical-traditionalist Catholic ideology almost certainly presents opportunities for threat mitigation through the exploration of new avenues for tripwire and source development.”

On July 25, the FBI produced a version of the Richmond document with fewer redactions than the two previous versions it provided, the lawmakers said. Republicans said the new version with fewer redactions makes it clear that investigations into Catholic organizations in Los Angeles and Portland fed into the Richmond office memo.

“Most concerning of all the newly produced version of the document explicitly states that FBI Richmond ‘coordinated with’ FBI Portland in preparing the assessment,” the lawmakers wrote. “Thus, it appears that both FBI Portland and FBI Los Angeles field offices were involved in or contributed to the creation of FBI’s assessment of traditional Catholics as potential domestic terrorists.”

–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice