In a Washington Times exclusive, newly uncovered FBI documents reveal that the Biden-era FBI launched a sweeping surveillance effort targeting Catholics — contradicting sworn testimony from then-Director Christopher Wray, who claimed the operation was limited to a single memo.
The documents, obtained by Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles E. Grassley and detailed by The Washington Times, show that the FBI’s infamous 2023 “Richard memo” was not an isolated incident but part of a broader, bureau-wide investigation into so-called “Radical Traditionalist Catholics.”
Internal records prove the memo was shared with over 1,000 FBI personnel across multiple field offices, far beyond what Wray previously told Congress.
As CatholicVote reported in 2023, Wray testified under oath before the Senate Intelligence Committee that he was “aghast” upon learning of the memo, which he described as “a single product by a single field office” that was immediately “withdrawn and removed from FBI systems.”
However, Grassley said the new evidence proves otherwise.
In a Monday letter to Trump-appointed FBI Director Kash Patel, Grassley wrote that the files confirm “once again that Director Wray’s previous testimony to Congress that the Richmond analysts produced a ’single product’ was false.”
Dated Jan. 23, 2023, the Richmond memo warned that certain Catholic groups posed a potential domestic terrorism threat, accusing them of embracing “anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ, and white supremacist ideology,” according to the Washington Times report.
Just six days before it leaked to the public, the memo had been circulated to FBI offices in Buffalo, Louisville, Portland, and Milwaukee.
FBI agents also cited the widely discredited far-left Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) to label certain Catholic groups as “hate groups,” despite the SPLC’s long track record of targeting mainstream religious institutions.
Grassley said at least 13 additional FBI documents and five attachments used the term “radical traditionalist Catholics,” often echoing SPLC language.
“These letters focused on the preparation of the memo, its dissemination, the use of biased sources such as the radical Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and later, the FBI’s misleading representations to Congress, including those of former Director Wray,” Grassley wrote.
One internal draft, the Strategic Perspective Executive Analytic Report, repeated similar claims that traditionalist Catholics posed a threat of violent extremism. Though never finalized, the report was circulated until FBI leadership ordered its deletion.
The Washington Times reported that then-Deputy Director Paul Abbate instructed agents to permanently delete both the draft report and all records of those who accessed the Richmond memo.
Grassley said Abbate ordered “a permanent removal of the memorandum, as well as any edits or references, from all FBI systems.”
“This led to the reported permanent loss of records related to the production of the memo,” Grassley noted. “While the FBI last year told my staff they believed they could recover deleted files, no such files were ever produced.”
The revelations confirm longstanding allegations that the Biden administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI consistently targeted Christians.
Leaked memos and whistleblower reports indicate that federal agents sought to infiltrate Catholic churches, flagged Mass-going Catholics as “potential domestic terrorists,” and attempted to spy on Catholic groups.
During his January confirmation hearing, Patel pledged to investigate those responsible for the persecution of Catholics and the destruction of records related to the misconduct.
According to the Washington Times, Grassley urged Patel to identify the officials responsible for the deletion of the Richard memo and requested a search for additional documentation and an update on whether any of the deleted files can be recovered.
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Author: Elise DeGeeter
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