A controversial document issued by the FBI Richmond Field Office in January taking aim at certain “traditionalist” Catholics tied in FBI offices in Portland and Los Angeles, according to a less redacted version of the document.
The version, obtained by the Washington Examiner, linked “radical-traditionalist Catholics” to violent extremism and relied on a “liaison contact” in the Portland Field Office and information from the Los Angeles Field Office.
The document first made headlines this year after it revealed that the Richmond office had assessed the threat presented by the so-called radical-traditionalist Catholics and explored threat “mitigation opportunities,” such as engaging with certain churches in an attempt to persuade their leadership into working as “tripwires” or sources for the FBI.
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House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) called the new version of the document “startling” on Wednesday in a letter obtained by the Washington Examiner to FBI Director Christopher Wray.
“This new information suggests that the FBI’s use of its law enforcement capabilities to intrude on American’s First Amendment rights is more widespread than initially suspected and reveals inconsistencies with your previous testimony before the Committee,” Jordan wrote.
Testifying before the committee in July, Wray called the document “appalling” and noted it was limited to the Richmond office and had been retracted. He also said an investigation into the creation of the document was still ongoing.
It was “a single product by a single field office, which as soon as I found out about it I was aghast and ordered it withdrawn and removed from FBI systems,” Wray testified.
Asked for comment, a spokesperson for the Justice Department pointed to Wray’s testimony and a letter he wrote later in July to Jordan on the matter.
In the letter, Wray said an internal review of the document was “nearly complete” and offered to brief the Judiciary Committee on the document on Aug. 22.
Jordan wrote to Wray that the committee looked forward to receiving the briefing but that he had new requests, as well as outstanding ones from a subpoena in April.
The requests included a transcribed interview with the Richmond official who approved the document, as well as a demand for relevant communications that may have occurred among the Richmond, Portland, and Los Angeles FBI offices.
Jordan, who had initially received from the FBI a more heavily redacted version of the document, also questioned the “accuracy, completeness, and truthfulness” of Wray’s testimony in light of the removed redactions revealing the additional FBI offices.
He offered Wray the option to “amend” his testimony from July to “fully explain the nature and scope” of the FBI’s threat assessment.
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Jordan asked that Wray meet his requests by Aug. 23.
Read the less redacted document below.
