A Washington-based government transparency watchdog has introduced former FBI Director Christopher Wray to the Department of Justice and the FBI, which has led to a criminal investigation regarding his alleged false statements to Congress surrounding two notable incidents.
Mike Howell, President of the Surveillance Project, indicated that the group specifically urged a review of Wray’s congressional testimony. They highlighted the so-called Richmond Memo, which discussed a purported Chinese conspiracy aimed at targeting anti-Catholic sentiments and involved illegal driver’s licenses in the lead-up to the 2020 election.
In July 2023, Wray testified before the House Judiciary Committee about the FBI Richmond Memo, which classified Catholics as a possible domestic threat.
Notably, former President Trump remarked that the “bent like hell” turtle, Brennan, might face consequences related to the FBI investigation.
“Well, all I can say is that you’re referring to Richmond products. This is a single product in a single field office, and as soon as I learned about it, I retracted it and removed it from the FBI system,” Wray stated.
The Surveillance Project contends that Wray’s statement is ultimately misleading, if not false.
Representative Tom Tiffany from Wisconsin pointed to Wray’s involvement with the Richmond memo and a related “Trump Survey,” which circulated within the FBI, probing agents about their loyalty to the president and if they participated in protests connected to the Capitol breach on January 6.
“We continue to question these ‘isolated examples’ of identifying Richmond Catholics. Isn’t that a pattern?” Tiffany asked.
The Surveillance Project also emphasized remarks from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, who, during a June hearing on alleged “cover-ups” during the Biden administration, criticized the Richmond memo for using questionable data from the Southern Poverty Law Center to label traditional Catholics as violent extremists.
According to records released last week, the FBI possessed multiple documents incorporating biased anti-Catholic sources, not just the one memo.
Grassley noted that more FBI field offices were involved than previously conveyed. The original Richmond memo was unpublished due to backlash and consisted of partially edited documents Grassley’s committee had sent to FBI Director Kash Patel in June. The bureau suggested a significant concern regarding Radical Traditional Catholic views, which were scrutinized in the context of the upcoming 2024 general election cycle.
“Director Ray’s testimony was inaccurate because it didn’t clarify the production scope of the memo and neglected to mention an additional draft intended for broader FBI distribution,” asserted the Surveillance Project in a separate statement.
They specifically charged violations of Congress along with perjury and obstruction regarding false statements made.
Fox News Digital contacted Grassley, who confirmed specifically finding 13 documents that were similar to the Richmond memo. He mentioned that at least 1,000 individuals had access to information indicating that monitoring the Catholic Church might be necessary due to its classification as a potential terrorist organization.
Fox News Digital also tried to reach Wray for comment but received no response.
In a June statement, Patel pointed out the CCP’s influence, alleging that prior FBI leadership misled the public regarding China’s interference in the 2020 elections for political reasons. He acknowledged that the FBI had suppressed this information in 2020, expressing gratitude to Grassley for aiding in uncovering the topic.
During his testimony in September 2020, Wray mentioned to Senator Gary Peters that the FBI had historically not observed coordinated national voter fraud during major elections. He added that his remarks regarding localized voter fraud did not downplay the overall threat.
Howell’s group argues that these statements were contradicted by documents Patel provided to Congress in June, which indicated that China was producing counterfeit IDs to potentially assist former President Biden.
These criminal referrals against Wray also reference incidents such as the seizure of 20,000 counterfeit licenses by customs in Illinois in August 2020. An official at the Chicago port warned that this situation could lead to serious consequences.
It remains unclear if a vote was conducted as part of this plan.
In a speech at the Hudson Institute in 2020, Ray alerted to the CCP’s dangers concerning future elections.
“China’s aggressive foreign influence campaign is active all year round, not just during elections,” he stated.
Both the FBI and the Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comments from Fox News Digital.
