Republican Congressman Jim Jordan has written a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray, demanding the agency’s full cooperation in providing all documents related to the FBI’s handling of “domestic violent extremism” investigations against Catholic Americans.
The letter refers to a memo produced by the Richmond Field Office that categorized Catholic Americans based on theological distinctions and suggested that certain kinds of Catholic Americans may be domestic terrorists.
In the letter, Jordan states, “Based on the limited information produced by the FBI to the Committee, we now know that the FBI relied on at least one undercover agent to produce its analysis, and that the FBI proposed that its agents engage in outreach to Catholic parishes to develop sources among the clergy and church leadership to inform on Americans practicing their faith.”
Jordan added, “This shocking information reinforces our need for all responsive documents, and the Committee is issuing a subpoena to you to compel your full cooperation.”
The letter highlights that the limited information produced by the FBI shows that the agency sought to enlist Catholic houses of worship as potential sources to monitor and report on their parishioners.
Jordan stresses that Americans must be free to exercise their fundamental First Amendment rights without worrying that the FBI may have planted “tripwire” sources or other informants in their houses of worship.
Jordan also criticized the FBI’s claims of having “numerous” and “rigorous” policies to protect First Amendment rights, stating that the FBI’s Richmond document plainly undercuts these assertions.
The memo was reviewed and approved by two senior intelligence analysts and even the local Chief Division Counsel, which raises concerns about how many FBI employees explored “new avenues for tripwire and source development” in Catholic houses of worship across the country as a result of the memo.
In the letter, Jordan invokes Congress’s “broad and indispensable” power to conduct oversight and demanded all documents and information related to the memo’s content and context to inform potential legislative reforms to prevent the misuse of federal law-enforcement and counterterrorism resources in the future.
The letter concludes with a subpoena for the requested documents and information.
