House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., are demanding the FBI turn over information regarding a since-rescinded agency memo that tagged some Catholics as violent extremists due to their religious beliefs.
The demand came in a letter sent Thursday to FBI Director Christopher Wray.
"The Committee on the Judiciary is continuing to examine the Federal Bureau of Investigation's handling of domestic violent extremism [DVE] investigations," Jordan and Johnson wrote. "Over the last year, we have written to you several times about startling allegations that the FBI is misusing DVE resources for apparent political purposes. Since those letters, new information has become public about the FBI's targeting of a set of Catholic Americans for their religious beliefs. We therefore write to request additional information about this serious misuse of federal law-enforcement resources.
"On January 23, 2023, the FBI's Richmond Field Office published an official document that linked 'racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists' [RMVEs] with a 'radical-traditionalist Catholic' [RTC] ideology. In this document, the FBI purported to distinguish what it called 'traditional Catholics' from the disfavored RTC adherents, who the FBI characterized as embracing 'anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ, and white supremacist ideology.'
"The FBI even identified certain public policy issues — such as immigration and life issues — that it believed would 'catalyz[e]' RTC adherents. In addition to attempting to separate and categorize Catholic Americans based on theological distinctions, the FBI underscored the political nature of its actions: 'FBI Richmond assesses RMVE interest in RTCs is likely to increase over the next 12 or 24 months in the run-up to the next general election cycle."
The two House members claimed the FBI cited what they called "biased and partisan" sources — including the Southern Poverty Law Center [SPLC] — to back up the memo.
"The SPLC misleadingly defines RTCs as 'the largest group of serious anti-Semites in America' and believes to have identified nine RTC 'hate group' across the United States," they say in the letter. "The SPLC also identifies the broad term 'Christian identity' as a hate group — a term that could arguably encompass millions of Americans with sincerely held religious beliefs."
Jordan and Johnson say the FBI withdrew the memo after backlash. However, the two congressmen are now demanding all documents relating to the memo and the names of FBI employees involved in approving or disseminating it.
Last week, the FBI had renounced the memo
"While our standard practice is to not comment on specific intelligence products, this particular field office product – disseminated only within the FBI – regarding racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism does not meet the exacting standards of the FBI," the bureau said last Thursday in an emailed statement to Newsmax.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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