EXCLUSIVE — FBI headquarters distanced itself from a local field office’s intelligence report that warned about the alleged connection between “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists” and “radical-traditionalist Catholics.”
An FBI intelligence product released Jan. 23 by the bureau’s field office in Richmond, Virginia claimed the office “assesses the increasingly observed interest of racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists (RMVEs) in radical-traditionalist Catholic (RTC) ideology almost certainly presents opportunities for threat mitigation through the exploration of new avenues for tripwires and source development.” The FBI’s national press office told the Washington Examiner on Thursday that the FBI Richmond field office's alleged warning “does not meet the exacting standards of the FBI.”
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FBI Richmond said in January that it “makes this assessment with high confidence based on FBI investigations, local law enforcement agency reporting, and liaison reporting.”
Former FBI special agent and federal whistleblower Kyle Seraphin first posted the document from the FBI Richmond office and tweeted: “FBI crossing the Rubicon on First Amendment protection — freedom of religion.” The FBI document was first published by UncoverDC this week.
“While our standard practice is to not comment on specific intelligence products, this particular field office product — disseminated only within the FBI - regarding racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism does not meet the exacting standards of the FBI,” FBI headquarters told the Washington Examiner on Thursday. “Upon learning of the document, FBI Headquarters quickly began taking action to remove the document from FBI systems and conduct a review of the basis for the document.”
The national office added: “The FBI is committed to sound analytic tradecraft and to investigating and preventing acts of violence and other crimes while upholding the constitutional rights of all Americans and will never conduct investigative activities or open an investigation based solely on First Amendment protected activity.”
The since-withdrawn FBI Richmond intelligence report had contended that “the ongoing convergence of the far-right white nationalists movement and RTCs was further demonstrated through the increase in hostility toward abortion rights advocates on social media sites in the lead up to and the aftermath of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.”
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As likely examples of what the FBI national press office was referring to as the FBI Richmond intelligence document not meeting the “exacting standards” of the bureau, the local bureau field office repeatedly cited the leftwing Southern Poverty Law Center, including an article on “Radical Traditional Catholicism.” The FBI field office also pointed to articles by Salon, including “White Nationalists Get Religion” and “Traditional Catholics and White Nationalist ‘Groypers’ Forge a New Far-Right Youth Movement.” And the FBI Richmond also cited an Atlantic article on “How Extremist Gun Culture is Trying to Co-Opt the Rosary.”
The disavowal email from FBI headquarters was sent to the Washington Examiner just after the start of a Thursday congressional hearing by the Republican-led Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.