On Monday, House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jordan Jordan revealed the FBI relied on information it received from at least one undercover employee and sought to use local religious organizations as “new avenues for tripwire and source development.”
The outreach plan included contacting “mainline Catholic parishes” and local “diocesan leadership.”
According to the documents, the FBI also showed interest in “leveraging existing sources and/or initiating Type 5 Assessments to develop new sources with the placement and access” to report suspicious activity.
Jordan issued a subpoena on Monday to FBI Director Wray for all documents related to the FBI’s actions.
Jordan, along with Rep. Mike Johnson, sought information from the FBI relating to a Jan. 23, 2023 “domain perspective” document generated by the Richmond Field Office on Feb. 16, 2023. The document was called “Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities.”
After failing to receive a response, the Judiciary Committee reiterated its request in a March 20, 2023 letter. A few days later the FBI produced a substandard and partial response that only consisted of 18 pages.
The House Judiciary Committee, though, says that based on the limited production, it is apparent the FBI sought to use local religious organizations as “new avenues for tripwire and source development.”
Read the subpoena cover letter to Director Wray here.
