The FBI Tried To Recruit Informants in Catholic Churches To Watch for ‘Radicalization’

By Hudson Crozier

What’s new: The FBI used at least one undercover agent to try to infiltrate Catholic churches in Richmond, Virginia, according to a report from the House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. Documents show that the bureau wanted to recruit church leaders as informants to monitor “the warning signs of radicalization” in their communities and “enlist their assistance as suspicious activity tripwires.” The House Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed FBI Director Christopher Wray in response to the revelation.

A pattern: The news comes after a retracted memo in February showed the same FBI office targeting “radical traditionalist Catholic ideology”—a form of “extremism” expressed by, among other things, opposition to “abortion rights.” The memo relied on data from the hyperpartisan Southern Poverty Law Center.

Big picture: The FBI seeks to investigate religious Americans because it considers them to be potential terrorists for their traditional beliefs in today’s progressive society. This and other evidence of partisan hostility in federal agencies continue to drive the GOP’s weaponization committee. The White House has decried the committee as political theater and “McCarthyism” while mainstream journalists try to discredit FBI whistleblowers.