Jordan Subpoenas Wray for Documents After FBI Tied Catholic Group to Violent Extremism

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) subpoenaed FBI Director Christopher Wray on Monday for documents about a connection the bureau made in January between certain “traditionalist” Catholics and domestic violent extremism.

Jordan, who chairs the select committee investigating alleged weaponization of the federal government, asked that Wray provide him with all documents and communications the FBI has on the targeted set of Catholics by April 28, according to the subpoena, which was reviewed by Breitbart News.

The subpoena comes after the FBI’s Richmond Field Office produced a document in January titled “Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities.”

A redacted version of the document was initially leaked by suspended FBI special agent Kyle Seraphin. Upon Jordan’s request to Wray, the FBI provided a more complete but still partially redacted copy of the same document to Jordan.

The version the FBI provided to Jordan, which was reviewed by Breitbart News, showed the Richmond office had found that violent extremists’ “interest” in “radical-traditionalist Catholic” ideology was growing and that it therefore presented an opportunity for the FBI to engage with certain churches in an attempt to goad the churches’ leadership into serving as FBI “tripwires,” who would operate like unofficial informants to the FBI.

The FBI based its findings off an undercover agent’s work and local law enforcement reporting and cited examples of alleged criminal activity by three individuals associated with “radical-traditionalist” Catholicism to support its case.

The bureau described the certain traditional Catholics it was tying to violent extremism as those who prefer Latin mass, have a “disdain” for most modern-day popes, and have a “frequent adherence to anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ, and white supremacist ideology.”

It noted that “the ongoing convergence of the far-right white nationalist movement and RTCs [radical-traditionalist Catholics] was further demonstrated through the increase in hostility toward abortion-rights advocates on social media in the run-up to and aftermath” of the Supreme Court Dobbs leak.

One of the document’s four appendices was a list from the Southern Poverty Law Center, which is widely known for smearing mainstream conservative organizations as “hate groups,” of nine “RTC hate groups operating in the United States.”

When the document initially leaked, it prompted backlash from Republicans and criticism that it had taken on an anti-Catholic and left-leaning tone, and the FBI ultimately retracted it. The bureau informed Catholic News Agency that the retraction was because the document did not meet the FBI’s “exacting standards.”

Despite the retraction, Jordan has continued to pursue First Amendment concerns he has surrounding the creation of the document.

In a cover letter accompanying the subpoena, Jordan wrote that the information Wray has thus far provided to him that reveals that the FBI sought to establish sources among clergy was “shocking.”

🚨 #BREAKING: We now know the FBI, relying on information derived from at least one employee, sought to use local religious organizations as “new avenues for tripwire and source development.” pic.twitter.com/97veIGtvq4

— Weaponization Committee (@Weaponization) April 10, 2023

Jordan said:

The documents produced to date show how the FBI sought to enlist Catholic houses of worship as potential sources to monitor and report on their parishioners. 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.

Jordan noted that the redacted document Wray provided to him was “limited” and did not satisfy his prior requests to Wray and that the subpoena was therefore necessary for him to continue his investigation.