Earlier this week, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan issued a subpoena to FBI Director Christopher Wray regarding allegations that the Bureau "sought to use local religious organizations as 'new avenues for tripwire and source development.'"
🚨 #BREAKING: We now know the FBI, relying on information derived from at least one 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 employee, sought to use local religious organizations as “new avenues for tripwire and source development.” pic.twitter.com/97veIGtvq4
— Weaponization Committee (@Weaponization) April 10, 2023
A press release announcing the subpoena further explains the FBI's egregious behavior:
For example, in a section of a January 23, 2023, domain perspective document entitled “Opportunities,” the FBI wrote:
“In addition to [redaction], engage in outreach to the leadership of other [Society of Saint Pius X] chapels in the FBI Richmond [area of responsibility] to sensitize these congregations to the warning signs of radicalization and to enlist their assistance to serve as suspicious activity tripwires.”
The FBI similarly noted two other opportunities to engage in outreach with religious institutions in the Richmond area, citing a desire “to sensitize the congregation to the warning signs of radicalization and enlist their assistance to serve as suspicious activity tripwires.” This outreach plan even included contacting so-called “mainline Catholic parishes” and the local “diocesan leadership.” The FBI also expressed an interest in “leverag[ing] existing sources and/or initiat[ing] Type 5 Assessments to develop new sources with the placement and access” to report on suspicious activity.
The document itself shows that its contents, including its proposal to develop sources in Catholic churches, were reviewed and approved by two senior intelligence analysts and even the local Chief Division Counsel. Whistleblowers have advised that the FBI distributed this document to field offices across the country.
Earlier this year, Attorney General Merrick Garland came under fire for an "anti-Catholic" internal memo that came out of an FBI field office. Catholic News Agency reported:
Published Feb. 8 by the website UncoverDC, the memo discusses launching an investigation into “radical-traditionalist” Catholics because of possible ties to “the far-right white nationalist movement.”
The memo, titled “Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities,” was dated Jan. 23 and was reportedly leaked by an FBI agent in the Richmond office. Its unnamed author singles out Catholics who are interested in the Traditional Latin Mass and are members of certain social media groups as presenting “new opportunities for threat mitigation.”
As Senator Josh Hawley pointed out in an interview with Fox News, the latest allegations against the FBI are part of the broader trend of the Biden Administration using law enforcement to target those who disagree with them. They've become "obsessed with maintaining power."
The Biden Administration uses law enforcement against anyone who disagrees with them - parents, Trump, pro-lifers, conservatives, and now Catholics. They’re obsessed with maintaining power pic.twitter.com/ob1KfDO3MH
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) April 12, 2023
Want to learn more about the Biden Administration's weaponization of the government against the American people? Chairman Jim Jordan will be the keynote speaker at RNLA's 2023 National Policy Conference on May 12th in Arlington, Virginia.
RNLA is excited to announce that House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan will be the keynote speaker for the 2023 National Policy Conference on May 12th in Arlington, Virginia!
— RNLA ⚖️ (@TheRepLawyer) February 24, 2023
Register here today: https://t.co/ckO9YSLW6Q pic.twitter.com/4bQ6RLHFKt
Register here today. The last day to receive early bird pricing is this Friday!