The following letter was sent to Rep. Jim Jordan today. Please contact his communications chief, Russell Dye: russell.dye@mail.house.gov
August 10, 2023
Hon. Jim Jordan
Chairman
Committee on the Judiciary
2056 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3504
Dear Chairman Jordan:
Yesterday, your letter of August 9 to FBI Director Christopher Wray was made public. We are just as disturbed as you are to learn that the FBI’s probe of Catholics was never confined to one field office in Richmond. From the trove of documents you received, it is now known that the FBI’s Portland Field Office and the Los Angeles Field Office were also involved in this unseemly investigation.
The new documents, some of which have less redactions than the initial batch, provide evidence that Wray’s comment on July 25 that the FBI’s actions were limited to “a single field office” is not true. This calls into question Wray’s forthrightness, and it also begs the question: What else does the FBI know about this matter?
Your request for more documentation, especially with regard to communications between these three field offices is much appreciated. But given that the FBI has proven that it has not been transparent about this matter, Wray needs to explain why.
We also need answers to questions I raised in my letter of July 26 to you.
On what basis did the FBI conclude that these Catholics [“Radical-Traditionalist Catholics”] warranted a probe? Do they have a history of violence? If so, where is the evidence? If not, why were they singled out?”
On what basis did the FBI decide it was necessary to enlist “mainline Catholics” to spy on their fellow parishioners? Where is the evidence that ordinary practicing Catholics pose a security threat to the United States or to other law-abiding Americans? How common is it for FBI agents to infiltrate houses of worship—of any religion—employing “tripwire sources”?
Thank you for pursuing this issue. We stand ready to cooperate in any manner you desire.
Sincerely,
William A. Donohue, Ph.D.
President
