House GOP: FBI ‘Abused Its Counterterrorism Tools to Target Catholic Americans as Potential Domestic Terrorists’

The House Judiciary Committee and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government discovered that the FBI’s Richmond Office memo targeting Catholics was not an isolated incident.

“The Committee and Select Subcommittee’s oversight shows that the FBI abused its counterterrorism tools to target Catholic Americans as potential domestic terrorists,” declared the committee.

The memo from the Richmond office warned that “radical-traditionalist Catholics” could become “‘racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists’ and said that ‘racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists (RMVEs) in radical-traditionalist Catholic (RTC) ideology almost certainly presents opportunities for threat mitigation through the exploration of new avenues for tripwire and source development.'”

Something tells me they don’t separate the actual Traditional Catholics and us, who love some of the traditions.

It doesn’t matter. The traditionalists and the rest of us are not radicals.

If you’re a Radical Traditionalist Catholic (RTC), then WHITE SUPREMACIST. Do you prefer the Latin Mass? White supremacist. Do you prefer to partake in other Catholic traditions pre-Vatican II? You’re a racist extremist.

The findings make me believe the FBI wanted to infiltrate the Catholic Church. The FBI had at least one undercover agent to help compile the memo. The agency even “proposed developing sources among the Catholic clergy and church leadership.”

The agents interviewed at least one priest and choir director before publishing the memo.

But the committee also “learned that there were errors at every step of the drafting, review, approval, and removal process of the memorandum.”

The committee’s findings blew my mind. It’s worse than I thought.

To the shock of no one, the FBI had “no legitimate basis for the memorandum to insert federal law enforcement into Catholic houses of worship.”

Yes, the FBI wanted to place “federal law enforcement into places of worship and support outreach efforts to the Diocese of Richmond and other Catholic parishes.”

The Richmond Office jumped at the chance to target Catholics after one investigation from someone who described themselves as a “radical-traditionalist Catholic.” However, the agents could not ever define an RTC.

One rogue FBI office? Nope. The FBI offices in Los Angeles, Milwaukee, and Portland gave Richmond reports, which helped form the memo.

The two agents who wrote the memo relied on pure leftist sources, including the Southern Poverty Law Center, Salon, and The Atlantic. The agents knew the sources had a political bias.

The FBI picked out “Americans who are pro-life, pro-family, and support the biological basis for sex and gender distinction as potential domestic terrorists.”

The FBI withdrew the memo after it leaked in January. But at that time, the FBI wanted to place the memo “into an external, public-facing document highlighting the threats of ‘radical’ Catholics.”

An interview with Special Agent in Charge Stanley Meador revealed that the Richmond office “still desires to convey this information to other field offices” about RTCs.

Even though the FBI withdrew the memo, no one at the agency can tell how many offices and agents accessed it before it happened.

Jim Jordan, the committee chairman, spoke about the report on Hannity:

He went on to reference Biden’s speech before the physical birthplace of American government, where he was notably standing stern-faced against a dark-hued red background and claimed Trump-supporting Republicans “represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.””Remember when Joe Biden stood in front of Independence Hall and talked about how one half of the country is fascist?” Jordan asked. “It’s this whole mindset. If you’re pro-life, if you’re a traditional Catholic, somehow you’re radical, somehow you’re an extremist.””This is part of the Justice Department that said, if you’re a mom and dad going to a school board meeting, you’re an extremist as well… this is what’s so scary.”

I’m glad I do not live in a leftist state or city. I don’t know if I would trust my diocese if I lived in Illinois or D.C.

Tags: Catholic, FBI, House of Representatives, Republicans, SPLC, Terrorism, Virginia

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