A Scandal at the FBI?

For months, pro-life advocates, Republicans, and Catholic church leaders have condemned Biden and his administration for a memo targeting pro-life Catholics. As LifeNews.com reported, the FBI office in Richmond issued a memo on “Radical-Traditional Catholic Ideology” citing the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a leftist organization.

The FBI memo invited officers to investigate the alleged link between “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists” and “traditional radical Catholics,” citing the SPLC and including a list of “hate groups” designated by the SPLC for officers to target.

The agency quickly retracted the memo after massive criticism, but pro-life groups and pro-life politicians want an investigation and accountability. Part of this responsibility has taken the form of a request for additional documents, and this week the FBI handed over other documents on the controversial note.

The Republicans believe that the documents they received from the FBI exclude too much information that could be used to investigate the memo and its origins. “The redacted documents submitted to the commission highlight the communications between the FBI and the diocese of Richmond, but the redactions prevent the commission from fully understanding the nature of these interactions,” one official said in his letter.

The Republican Attorney General of Missouri, Andrew Bailey, and 19 other attorneys general issued a letter of condemnation. “As Attorney General, I will protect the Constitution, which includes the fundamental right to religious freedom enshrined in the first amendment,” the prosecutor said.

The note distinguishes between what the FBI considers acceptable and unacceptable Catholic beliefs and practices. It suggests that there are “radical traditionalists” who may be “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists.”

The FBI note identifies “radical traditionalist Catholics” as potential “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists. Among the beliefs that distinguish bad Catholics from good Catholics, there is a preference for “traditional Latin Mass and teachings prior to Vatican II,” as well as adherence to traditional Catholic teachings on sex and marriage (that the memo describes as “anti-LGBTQ”).”

The Attorneys General are requesting a full explanation of the origins of the document, copies of documents relating to its implementation, information on how this document has already affected the Catholic population of Virginia, and information on whether the FBI has begun to infiltrate places of worship in contravention of FBI internal guidelines.