FBI’s Secret Christian Watchlist Exposed – 4 Things To Know

Newly uncovered internal FBI emails, obtained by the ACLJ through FOIA litigation, expose what happened after the FBI’s targeting of traditionalist Christians under the Biden Administration went public – and the Bureau’s own people quietly freaked out about it in writing.

Here’s the timeline.

1. The Biden FBI wrote down actual church addresses. Kept tabs on priests.

On January 23, 2023, the FBI’s Richmond Field Office issued an intelligence product claiming that interest in “radical-traditionalist Catholic” ideology presented “new mitigation opportunities.” Those opportunities included developing sources, establishing “tripwires,” and recruiting people with “placement and access” inside traditionalist Catholic communities. The memo named actual parishes, a seminary, and Catholic publications. Inside actual churches.

2. Their “evidence” was basically a hate list borrowed from a Leftist organization.

The memo relied in part on the radical-Left Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) list of “hate groups” to identify who counted as suspicious. Once it leaked and the backlash hit, the FBI’s own intelligence chief, Tonya Ugoretz, sent an email to a room full of senior officials admitting: “[T]his product cites more subjective information from SPLC (a list of hate groups) without examining SPLC’s threshold for determining a hate group or explanation of how that threshold aligns with the FBI’s definition.” (Emphasis added.)

Translation: “We used a radical-Left group’s opinion as evidence!???”

3. The FBI’s own lawyers thought their co-workers might be confused about what a “government organization” is.

This is the part that should stop you mid-scroll. An attorney in the FBI’s Office of General Counsel raised a deeper concern: “It seems that some of our folks may be equating a third-party organization with another government organization, and perhaps we need to remind the workforce about non-governmental organizations.” (Emphasis added.) Someone then asked if there was a policy on this. The response: “Not that DI is aware of.” (Emphasis added.) No policy. At the FBI. In 2023.

4. “It was just one field office,” according to the guy in charge of the whole FBI.

Testifying before the House Judiciary Committee in July 2023, then-Director Christopher Wray described the memo as “a single product by a single field office.” The emails say otherwise – within weeks, officials across Intelligence, Counterterrorism, Legal, Public Affairs, Congressional Affairs, Inspection, and Security were all pulled into the response. That’s not “one office.” That’s an all-hands fire drill.

Finally

The FBI let a political advocacy group’s opinions do its homework, then tried to surveil actual parishes because of it – and even the Bureau’s own lawyers weren’t sure their colleagues understood the difference between a nonprofit and the government.

The ACLJ wants answers on how often this has happened elsewhere. Take action with the ACLJ as we hold the Deep State accountable. Sign our petition.