NEWS PROVIDED BY
Catholic League
June 4, 2025

NEW YORK, June 4, 2025 /Standard Newswire/ — The following is submitted by Bill Donohue, President, Catholic League:

We have known for years about an anti-Catholic cell group in the FBI that was operative under President Biden. It spied on practicing Catholics, not just those who were dubbed “radical-traditionalist Catholics” (RTCs). We now know, thanks to FBI Director Kash Patel, and Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, how widespread it was. Indeed, the extent of this unconstitutional probe was far greater than we were led to believe by former FBI Director Christopher Wray.

At Patel’s confirmation hearing on January 30, the Trump nominee told Sen. Josh Hawley of his “commitment to investigate” the FBI’s probe of Catholics. He has done just that—he has turned over newly released documents to Sen. Grassley, making good on his pledge.

On February 9, 2023, I expressed my concerns in a public statement about the FBI’s investigation of RTCs. I had a hunch that this probe was a ruse, and that the Bureau was really interested in targeting practicing Catholics. I asked, “What’s next? Will it be a war on ‘Catholics who are orthodox?’” It turned out I was right.

On April 11, 2023, I wrote to Director Wray asking him to make public those documents that related to the FBI’s outreach program to “mainline Catholic parishes” and “local diocesan leadership.” They were targeted, I said, “because of an alleged ‘radicalization’ in the Catholic Church.” Regarding the RTCs, I said, “we have not seen any evidence that they are a threat to anyone.” More important, “Now the FBI has upped the ante, going after ‘mainline’ Catholics and dioceses.”

Wray has insisted all along that the Richmond field office of the FBI was the only office that was involved in this anti-Catholic witch hunt. What Grassley has now revealed proves how untrue this is.

The Richmond memo, detailing the Catholic spy operation (which was first made public by an FBI whistleblower), was distributed to over 1,000 FBI employees across the country before it was publicly disclosed. In fact, the FBI produced at least 13 additional documents and five attachments that made plain its anti-Catholic bigotry. That it relied on information from a hate group, the Southern Poverty Law Center, makes this unseemly caper all the more despicable.

Grassley even revealed a second FBI memo that was drafted for distribution by the Richmond field office. The Iowa Republican noted that “The draft memo repeated the unfounded link between traditional Catholicism and violent extremism, but was never published due to backlash following the Richmond Memo’s public disclosure. The existence of this second memo contradicts former FBI Director Christopher Wray’s testimony that the Richmond field office only produced ‘a single product.’”

The “backlash” that put the brakes on the second memo had nothing to do with a media blitz. As I noted on September 20, 2023, with the exception of conservative media outlets, the big media refused to cover this story. The same is true today: not a single mainstream media outlet has reported on Grassley’s disclosure.

So where did the “backlash” come from? Here is what I wrote to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan on March 24, 2025: “In 2023, I wrote ten news releases on this subject: four were open letters to you; one was a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray; the rest were standard news releases. I issued three more statements in 2024, two were open letters—one was to Wray and one to you.” Sen. Grassley was copied on many of the letters.

These letters and news releases were followed up by radio, TV and internet interviews, thus contributing mightily to the “backlash.” Indeed, the Catholic League did more to keep the pressure on the FBI than any other organization in the nation.

We are committed to seeing this issue through until the entire truth is known to the public. Look for more on this subject soon.

SOURCE Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights

CONTACT: 212-371-3191, pr@catholicleague.org