(LifeSiteNews) – FBI whistleblower Kyle Seraphin claimed that the memo targeting “Radical Traditionalist Catholics” is still being circulated internally despite the FBI’s official retraction of the document.
Seraphin, who released the now-infamous FBI memo about the surveillance of Latin Mass Catholics, asked the FBI on Twitter “[w]hy are people telling me that the document, despite your statements to the press suggesting it has been revoked, is still on the FBI servers (and trending in the top 3 on the intel portal)?”
Hey @FBI – Why are people telling me that the document, despite your statements to the press suggesting it has been revoked, is still on the FBI servers (and trending in the top 3 on the intel portal)?
I am also told the message to employee is: “Protect the brand” of the FBI.… https://t.co/54BFu0AJkX
— Kyle Seraphin (@KyleSeraphin) February 16, 2023
Seraphin added that the FBI is telling employees to “protect the brand” of the agency.
“I am also told the message to employee is: ‘Protect the brand’ of the FBI,’” he wrote. “Too late. Telling employees that anything ‘could be leaked or shared with Congress’ is just you admitting that the public’s outrage at your malfeasance is well deserved.”
Last week, former FBI agent Kyle Seraphin released an eight-page internal document sent January 23, indicating the FBI in Richmond, Virginia planned to conduct surveillance to intercept “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists” who have allegedly found common ground with “radical-traditionalist Catholic (RTC) ideology,” LifeSiteNews reported.
READ: FBI whistleblower releases docs showing agency is surveilling ‘Radical’ Latin Mass Catholics
After the memo caused an immense backlash, the FBI retracted the document.
Many critics immediately pointed out that to justify the supposed need for the FBI to monitor certain Catholics, the memo also referenced three anti-Catholic smear articles (here, here, and here) published by leftwing websites Salon and The Atlantic.
The FBI is planning to intensify its “assessment” and “mitigation” of “Radical Traditionalist Catholics” over the next 12 to 24 months according to an explosive document from a former agent turned whistleblower.
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The bombshell 8-page memo was released by former FBI agent Kyle Serpahin on his website UncoveredDC Wednesday. The report, written by an FBI analyst in Richmond, Virginia, was published for internal agency use only on January 23, is titled, “Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities.”
Seraphin describes the briefing as an “intelligence product” that, though not being exhaustive, can be used as an initial reference point for the agency to “prop up” future investigations on the subject. He says he obtained the document from an anonymous Baptist employee for the agency.
“This is the first FBI Richmond domain product to focus on the interest of racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists in the Radical Traditional Catholic movement,” the document states. “A search of FBI databases indicates this is also the first FBI finished intelligence product to specifically address this environmental variable.”
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Among the most controversial aspects of the memo is that it directly cites a defamatory study conducted by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) on the subject “Radical Traditional Catholicism.” The SPLC has long been rejected as a legitimate resource for the FBI, Seraphin says, but in this instance, it is being relied on as a primary source to justify its efforts. The memo also references three anti-Catholic smear articles (here, here, and here) published by leftwing websites Salon and The Atlantic to defend its monitoring.
The report alleges that its real motivation is a concern that “Radical Traditionalist Catholic Ideology” possesses an “anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBT, and white supremacy” outlook, and that this presents a threat to the US’s domestic well-being. The report further claims that adherents to RTC ideology “frequently share language and symbolism, such as crusader references or anti-Semitic discourses” online that pro-life white nationalists also support.
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The memo had differentiated between certain types of Catholics deemed to be more or less problematic based on their alleged beliefs.
In its statement, the FBI claimed that “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.”
‘Serious misuse of federal law enforcement resources’
On February 10, Virginia’s Attorney General and Attorney Generals from 19 other states signed a document that condemned the FBI document and called upon the federal government to release all materials related to the controversial memo.
“The memorandum deploys alarmingly detailed theological distinctions to distinguish between the Catholics whom the FBI deems acceptable, and those it does not. Among those beliefs which distinguish the bad Catholics from the good ones are a preference for ‘the Traditional Latin Mass and pre-Vatican II teachings,’ and adherence to traditional Catholic teachings on sex and marriage (which the memorandum glibly describes as ‘anti-LGBTQ’),” the Attorneys General wrote.
“The memorandum even appears to accuse the Supreme Court and the Governor of Virginia of ‘[c]atalyzing’ the bad Catholics through ‘legislation or judicial decisions in areas such as abortion rights, immigration, affirmative action, and LGBTQ protections,’ singling out the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and Governor Youngkin’s support for sensible abortion regulations as examples.”
In a February 16 letter addressed to FBI Director Christopher Wray, Republican Reps. Jim Jordan and Mike Johnson said the federal agency must respond to the “anti-Catholic memo,” which they called a “serious misuse of federal law enforcement resources.”
READ: Rep. Jim Jordan demands FBI reveal details regarding since-retracted ‘anti-Catholic memo’
The two congressmen furthermore requested that the FBI provide them with any documents pertaining to the alleged ties between certain Catholics and “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists” dating from January 20, 2021, to the present.
The FBI was also asked to provide any materials that provided a “basis” for the memo, and a “list of the FBI investigations, local law enforcement agency reporting, and liaison reporting” upon which the Richmond FBI “relied” to make their “assessments” in the leaked memo.
The memo has also been condemned by many Catholic figures, including Bishop Barry Knestout of Richmond, Virginia – who specifically defended the Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) parish that was mentioned by name in the leaked memo – and Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) finally responded to the memo last night.
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