The Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government has again asked FBI Director Christopher Wray, for information on the controversial methods the agency has been using to investigate alleged Catholic radicals. In the notification, the Chairman of the Commission, Jim Jordan, accuses Wray of providing Congress with scant and highly ambiguous documentation, despite repeated requests, and of authorizing the infiltration of undercover agents in parishes to set traps for parishioners and other initiatives that could violate the First Amendment.
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.”
Chilling. pic.twitter.com/X6Ksb9ryoM
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) April 10, 2023
Possible domestic terrorists
In the missive, Jordan again asked the FBI for explanations regarding the document released in January in which the agency purported to categorize Catholic Americans based on theological distinctions. In addition, it suggested, following the Southern Poverty Law Center, that some Catholic Americans might be domestic terrorists. Jordan called reports that the agency used at least one undercover agent to conduct analysis and recommendations that investigators infiltrate parishes to "develop sources" and traps "outrageous."
The Committee on the Judiciary is conducting oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) handling of domestic violent extremism investigations against Catholic Americans and its effect on protected First Amendment activity. 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. This shocking information reinforces our need for all responsive documents, and the Committee is issuing a subpoena to you to compel your full cooperation.
Jordan demands to know how many FBI agents followed recommendations
-The FBI relied on information derived from at least one undercover employee and sought to use local religious organizations as “new avenues for tripwire and source development.”
— Weaponization Committee (@Weaponization) April 10, 2023
The GOP stressed that "Americans attend church to worship and congregate for their spiritual and personal betterment. They must be free to exercise their fundamental First Amendment rights without worrying that the FBI may have planted so-called tripwire sources or other informants in their houses of worship." Something the agency is seriously violating, in light of the information provided by the agency. In this regard, Jordan demanded that Wray provide the committee with information on how many agents have followed the document's recommendations.
