RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The FBI reportedly put at least one undercover agent in Catholic churches around the Richmond area with the intention on seeing if any members of the congregations were showing signs of religious extremism, according to a release from the House Judiciary Committee.
This revelation comes two months after an internal FBI memo was leaked showing that the bureau had suspicions of extremism within Catholic congregations, and wanted to recruit Catholic leadership to spy on parishioners.
The Memo
On January 23, an internal memo created by the Richmond FBI field office suggested that there are Catholics who are “radical-traditionalists” and could be “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists.” The memo further says that “violent extremists” include Catholics who prefer a Latin Mass, which are services that are performed in Latin and follow a different calendar and set of prayers than those seen in other Catholic services.
The FBI Richmond office specifically wanted to recruit local Catholic congregations and leadership to watch for warning signs of radicalization and extremism in their churches. The FBI referred to this strategy as developing “new avenues for tripwire and source development.” The FBI Tripwire Program recruits civilians to observe potentially suspicious behavior and report it as part of counter-terrorism operations.
The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee also claims that the FBI had “at least one undercover agent” whose observations they used to write this memo.
Demanding Answers
The memo became public on Wednesday, Feb. 8, thanks to an FBI whistleblower.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares and 19 other Attorneys General sent a letter to the FBI and U.S. Attorney General two days after the memo was made public, demanding to know why the memo was written in the first place. The Attorneys General also requested information on whether the FBI followed through with infiltrating houses of worship.
The Judiciary Committee also requested this information from the FBI in February.
On March 23, the FBI provided the Judiciary Committee with a 18-page response. The bureau additionally said that the memo had been withdrawn because it did not met FBI standards, and a review had been opened.
The Outcome
The response showed that the FBI’s proposal to develop sources within Richmond Catholic churches were reviewed and approved at least two senior intelligence analysts. The memo was also sent to field offices across the country, according to FBI whistleblowers.
Despite the new information gleaned from the FBI’s response, it was deemed “substandard” because the FBI redacted a significant amount of information.
The Judiciary Committee is now issuing a subpoena for the FBI to provide records related to the Jan. 23 memo.
