Grassley Questions FBI’s Targeting of Catholics

A document released on Tuesday by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) seems to challenge statements made by FBI Director Christopher Ray. Ray had previously claimed that a 2023 memo focusing on “Radical Traditionalist Catholics” was an isolated incident, stemming from just one Bureau Field Office.

Grassley’s findings suggest that the FBI’s targeting of groups labeled as “radical traditionalist Catholics” might be broader than Biden administration officials have indicated.

In a testimony before lawmakers in July 2023, Ray stated that the memo linked Catholics with abortion rights to terrorism as part of a single initiative for “threat mitigation” and “source development.” He characterized it as a “single product with a single field office.”

However, the newly obtained FBI file indicates that the Richmond office has generated “at least 13 additional documents and five attachments” using terminology that could be seen as anti-Catholic, along with a second note that updates the case regarding “radical” Catholics.

Grassley argued that Ray’s statement was misleading, noting that it failed to address the broader implications of memo production and distribution. He pointed out the existence of another draft intended for circulation among FBI personnel. In a letter to current FBI director Kash Patel, he has since requested additional documents.

The second memo from the Richmond office allegedly reinforces an “unfounded link between traditional Catholicism and violent extremism.”

According to Republican sources from Iowa, the Richmond office did not distribute this second version following adverse reactions to the initial whistleblower report. Yet, Grassley’s investigation reveals that the first “anti-Catholic Richmond Memo” was disseminated to over 1,000 FBI agents nationwide in February 2023.

“This raises significant concerns that the Richmond office’s memo may unjustly categorize groups based on potentially biased sources,” Grassley warned Patel.

Moreover, the new document shows that Richmond officials collaborated with field offices in Louisville, Milwaukee, and Portland to draft the memo.

Critics, including Grassley, have voiced concerns regarding the FBI’s reliance on the “hate group” designations provided by the Southern Poverty Law Center when formulating the memo.

Grassley stated, “I continue to probe the FBI’s culture surrounding the Richmond memos, which allowed for their production and approval.”