Sen. Grassley Accuses FBI of Concealing Broad Anti-Catholic Investigation Under Biden
Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Senate Judiciary Committee chair, has accused the FBI of concealing the extent of an investigation into traditional Catholics under the Biden administration. The documents released by Grassley suggest that the FBI’s inquiry extended beyond a single memo, with the agency allegedly hiding the scope of the matter from Congress.
Grassley’s letter to FBI Director Kash Patel highlights his frustration with the agency’s handling of the ‘anti-Catholic’ memo under former Director Christopher Wray. Despite Wray’s assertion that the memo was a single product by a single field office, Grassley’s findings show at least 13 additional FBI documents and five attachments that used the term ‘radical traditionalist Catholic’ and cited the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The FBI has not commented further on the issue.
The memo, which was brought to light by a whistleblower, drew immediate criticism from Republicans who demanded answers from the agency. Grassley’s new documents reveal that the memo was distributed to more than 1,000 FBI employees nationwide. One email exchange shows concerns about hate groups identified by the SPLC in the memo being in the area of responsibility of the FBI field office in Buffalo, New York.
Grassley’s letter criticized the FBI for relying on ‘deeply-biased sources’ used in the memo. He wrote that the letters focused on the preparation of the memo, its dissemination, the use of biased sources such as the SPLC, and later, the FBI’s misleading representations to Congress, including those of former Director Wray.
The FBI’s handling of the memo became a topic of contention following its public disclosure. The memo, titled