A lawsuit from a non-profit public interest law firm has uncovered documents showing the Biden administration\u2019s rushed efforts to cover up a Federal Bureau of Investigations operation that spied on Catholic churches, even as Catholics were targeted by pro-abortion terrorists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Judicial Watch, working with CatholicVote Civic Action, received 131 heavily redacted pages of records from the FBI \u201cshowing top officials rushing to craft a public response to the leaked FBI intelligence memo that revealed its targeting of Catholics who adhere to traditional beliefs on church issues,\u201d JW reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAfter seven months of delay and more to come, Joe Biden\u2019s FBI remains committed to one thing: covering up their un-American spying on Catholic citizens,\u201d said former Congressman Huelskamp, Ph.D., Senior Advisor to CatholicVote. \u201cBy fully withholding more than 200 pages of public documents, the Biden administration is more interested in hiding the truth than ending this unconstitutional witch hunt of Catholics and other faithful Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe FBI launched a vicious spy effort against Catholics and sought to spy on parishioners as they sat in church pews,\u201d stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. \u201cThese records show top FBI officials were panicked in response about their domestic spying abuse leaking out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Judicial Watch received the records \u201cin response to an April 2023 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit it filed along with CatholicVoteCivic Action against the FBI and the Department of Justice after their failure to respond to March 2023 requests for records about an FBI intelligence memo targeting \u201cradical traditionalist\u201d Catholics (CatholicVote Civic Action and Judicial Watch, Inc. v. Federal Bureau of Investigations and Department of Justice (No. 1:23-cv-01166)).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In February 2023, an FBI intelligence document was leaked that revealed FBI infiltrated and spied on several Catholic churches as part of a fruitless operation that claimed traditional Catholics and pro-life Americans were a terrorist threat \u2013 even as the liberal pro-abortion terrorist group \u201cJane\u2019s Revenge\u201d carried out a nationwide campaign of terrorism and arson attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to JW, the newly obtained records include a February 8, 2023, email with the subject line \u201cMedia Request: FBI Richmond Document cites SPLC\u201d from the FBI\u2019s National Press Office alerting FBI officials regarding media inquiries:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have inquiries from the Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal (Heritage Foundation) about an article written by [redacted]. It references a January intelligence product from the Richmond Field office. After speaking with SC Goodwater, I am alerting all of you so we can get a copy of the actual document and hear any recommendations on how to respond. I am attaching a cut and paste of the [redacted] article.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n JW reports Miriam Coakley of the Office of General Counsel then forwarded the email on to other FBI officials, noting, \u201cAdding InTo [Insider Threat Office], SecD [Security Division] and OPR [Office of Professional Responsibility]. The date of the leaked domain perspective appears to be 23 Jan. 2023.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFurther along the chain, an official in the Office of Public Affairs forwards the chain to more people, saying, \u2018Adding Pamela Bryon from the DI. [Deputy Asst. Director of Intelligence Pamela Byron.] Any info on how this product came about would be appreciated,\u2019\u201d JW repors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a heavily redacted reply, Byron responds:<\/p>\n\n\n\n As mentioned on FBINET, the type of product leaked is a Domain Perspective (DP) \u2013 the purpose of DPs is to offer information and\/or highlight how a shift or new development in an AOR (domain) related to an environmental variable could impact the threat. Environmental variables include demographic shifts, technology development, economic conditions, special events, social\/cultural conditions, etc. In particular, the analysis in DPs (as in FBI products in general) is focused on the activity of identified or potential threat actors, not on the environmental variables themselves, and how those threat actors react to shifts in the environment and the subsequent impact on the threat posed by those actors.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In that context, there are a couple of things to note with this situation: [redacted].<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We stand by to assist with any other questions.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Additional records secured by JW include a February 9 email with the subject line \u201cCoordination of Draft statement regarding leaked RH intel document\u201d from Office of Public Affairs official Douglas Goodwater to top FBI officials, including FBI Chief of Staff Johathan Lenzner, Asst. Dir. for Intelligence Tonya Ugoretz, Asst. Dir. for Counterterrorism Robert Wells and others:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Draft\/pre decision, Coordination for media statement \u2013 DI\/CTD\/OGC [Directorate of Intelligence\/Counterterrorism Division\/Office of General Counsel]<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Potential statement for review\/edits-: [Redacted].<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Asst. Director for Public Affairs Catherine Milhoan then responds:<\/p>\n\n\n\n All, we have received two new inquiries in addition to the three last night and are making the decision to respond in the next hour. We want to get our statement out before this picks up any steam.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n DI\/CTD\/OCG,<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Please review the draft and let us know if you have any edits or concerns.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n JW then notes: On February 10, 2023, FBI Chief of Staff Jonathan Lenzner emails FBI colleagues with the subject \u201cintel piece that has been withdrawn,\u201d saying, \u201cI don\u2019t know if we are there yet, [redacted].\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Lenzner then follows up on February 13, writing, \u201cLooks like at least one religious organization is speaking out publicly: https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/catholic-league-condemns-fbi-internal-memo-targeting-catholics.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ryan T. Young, the Executive Assistant Director of the Intelligence Branch replies to Lenzner, \u201cNot a good look \u2026 Real frustrating when it is self-inflicted. I\u2019ll be back in town Wednesday. We can look into next best steps.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A lawsuit from a non-profit public interest law firm has uncovered documents showing the Biden administration\u2019s rushed efforts to cover up a Federal Bureau of Investigations operation that spied on Catholic churches, even as Catholics were targeted by pro-abortion terrorists. Judicial Watch, working with CatholicVote Civic Action, received 131 heavily redacted pages of records from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":1987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[247],"tags":[137,693,373,39,181],"class_list":["post-5592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-biden-administration","tag-biden-corruption","tag-christianity","tag-fbi","tag-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\n
Stanley Meador, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Richmond Field Office, replies, \u201cLooks good. One small suggestion in yellow. I would send it out. It is migrating onto Fox. https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/purported-fbi-document-suggests-agency-targeting-catholics-attend-latin-mass.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n