{"id":2116807,"date":"2023-12-05T18:58:02","date_gmt":"2023-12-05T23:58:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fbi-director-says-anti-catholic-memo-authors-were-admonished-not-removed\/"},"modified":"2023-12-05T19:01:22","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T00:01:22","slug":"fbi-director-says-anti-catholic-memo-authors-were-admonished-not-removed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fbi-director-says-anti-catholic-memo-authors-were-admonished-not-removed\/","title":{"rendered":"FBI director reprimands, but does not remove, authors of anti-Catholic memo"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffbi-director-says-anti-catholic-memo-authors-were-admonished-not-removed%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2116807&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>FBI \u2064Director Admonishes Employees Involved in \u200cControversial Memo Targeting Catholics<\/h2>\n<p>FBI Director Christopher Wray faced tough questioning \u200bduring a Senate hearing regarding \u200ba memo that \u2063targeted certain Catholics. In response to Senator Josh\u200d Hawley&#8217;s inquiry about firing the individuals responsible for the memo, Wray stated that they had\u200b been &#8220;admonished.&#8221; However, this \u200canswer did not satisfy Republican lawmakers.<\/p>\n<p>The memo, which was distributed \u200cinternally by\u2064 the \u2064FBI&#8217;s\u200b Richmond office and\u200b later \u200cretracted, \u200bdrew backlash when a whistleblower made it public.\u2064 It was described\u2063 as a &#8220;threat assessment&#8221;\u200d of &#8220;radical-traditionalist\u2063 Catholics,&#8221; attempting to link them to violent extremism. The memo cited real-life criminal suspects as examples.<\/p>\n<p>Religious\u200c freedom advocates criticized the memo as a potential violation of the First Amendment\u2064 and a smear against millions of Catholics in the United States. The House Judiciary Committee \u2064conducted an investigation into the memo, releasing a 30-page report that revealed the memo had undergone review\u200c processes \u2063and received approvals within the FBI.<\/p>\n<p>During the hearing, Hawley repeatedly pressed Wray about firing \u200dthe individuals involved\u2062 in the\u200b memo&#8217;s creation. Wray clarified\u2063 that while no one was fired, they had all been admonished and would face\u200b consequences in\u2062 their annual performance reviews.<\/p>\n<h3>Concerns and Investigations<\/h3>\n<p>CatholicVote President Brian Burch expressed concerns about the extent of \u2064the memo&#8217;s\u2064 reach,\u200b as it included data from field offices\u200b in other states. He called for answers regarding \u200cwho was behind the effort to spy on\u2063 Catholics,\u2062 the scope of the operation within\u200d the FBI, ongoing investigations, and accountability.<\/p>\n<p>The FBI conducted interviews with a priest and choir director affiliated with a Catholic church in \u200dRichmond\u200d as part of an investigation into one of \u200cthe criminal suspects mentioned in the memo. The bureau clarified that these \u200binterviews were not \u200bconducted specifically for the memo \u2062but\u200b were\u2063 related\u2062 to an individual who had been arrested for possessing dangerous items.<\/p>\n<p>The FBI acknowledged that the memo did not meet its \u200cstandards and emphasized its commitment to upholding the constitutional rights of all Americans. The bureau stated that investigations are based on violence, threats of violence, and violations of federal \u200claw, \u2063not on First Amendment protected activity or religious \u2063practices.<\/p>\n<p>The\u200b House Judiciary Committee spokesman confirmed that the\u200b interviews with the church leaders were conducted as part of the\u2064 investigation that led to the creation of the memo. Whistleblowers alleged that the memo had been distributed nationwide, raising further concerns about the FBI&#8217;s actions.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, the FBI&#8217;s handling of\u200d the memo has\u2062 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/south-dakota-lowers-unemployment-to-pre-pandemic-levels-after-state-rejected-lockdowns\/\" title=\"South Dakota Lowers Unemployment to Pre-Pandemic Levels After State Rejected Lockdowns\">faced criticism<\/a>, and calls for transparency and accountability continue.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Click here to read more \u200cfrom The\u200b Washington Examiner.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2>&#8211; What steps should the FBI\u200c and other\u2063 law enforcement agencies take to address\u2064 bias\u2064 and regain public trust<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Which revealed that it was created by two employees within the FBI&#8217;s \u2062Richmond office. The employees responsible\u200c for the\u200c memo were identified as Agent Peter Strzok and Attorney Lisa Page, both of whom were previously involved in the controversial investigation into the Trump campaign&#8217;s\u200c alleged collusion with Russia.<\/p>\n<p>During the Senate hearing, Director Wray acknowledged the seriousness of the \u2064memo and stated that the employees\u200c involved \u2062had been &#8220;admonished.&#8221;\u200d He assured the lawmakers that appropriate action had been taken,\u200b but did not\u2063 provide further \u200bdetails on the nature of the\u2063 admonishment or \u200dany potential \u200cconsequences \u2062for the individuals involved.<\/p>\n<p>This response did not \u2064sit \u200bwell with Republican lawmakers, who argued \u2063that mere admonishment was not a sufficient response to such a serious \u2063breach of\u2062 trust. Senator Hawley, in particular, expressed his disappointment with the lack of accountability and suggested\u2064 that the employees responsible should\u200b be fired.<\/p>\n<p>The \u200ccontroversy \u200dsurrounding the memo is further exacerbated \u2064by its targeting of a particular religious group. The memo specifically singled \u200bout &#8220;radical-traditionalist \u2064Catholics&#8221; and\u200c attempted to link them to violent \u2062extremism. This\u2062 drew sharp \u200ccriticism from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/religious-freedom-advocates-celebrate-after-scotus-sides-with-catholic-group-on-gay-couple-foster-parents\/\" title=\"Religious Freedom Advocates Celebrate After SCOTUS Sides With Catholic Group On Gay Couple Foster Parents\">religious freedom advocates<\/a>, who argued \u200cthat \u2062the memo \u2063not only violated the First Amendment but also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/following-backlash-over-racist-comments-san-francisco-school-board-commissioner-votes-to-admonish-herself\/\" title=\"Following Backlash Over \u201cRacist\u201d Comments, San Francisco School Board Commissioner Votes to \u201cAdmonish\u201d Herself\">perpetuated harmful stereotypes<\/a> and prejudices against Catholics.<\/p>\n<p>The House Judiciary Committee launched an investigation into the memo and its \u200dorigins. The inquiry \u2064revealed that Agent\u200c Strzok\u200d and\u200b Attorney\u200b Page were the individuals responsible for its creation. This discovery raised concerns about potential bias within \u200dthe \u200bFBI and the impact\u200b it may have had on other \u200dinvestigations conducted by\u200c the agency.<\/p>\n<p>The\u2062 memo controversy has once again ignited the debate\u200c about political bias within the FBI\u2064 and \u200cits impact on\u2062 the agency&#8217;s \u200ccredibility. Republican lawmakers, in particular, have been critical of\u200d perceived bias within the FBI, viewing it as evidence of a larger\u2064 problem within the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/los-angeles-county-sheriffs-deputy-dies-after-being-shot-in-his-patrol-car-by-an-unknown-assailant\/\" title=\"LA County Sheriff's Deputy killed in patrol car shooting by unidentified attacker.\">law enforcement\u2063 community<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In response\u200b to the controversy, religious freedom advocates and Catholic organizations have called for\u200d a\u200d thorough investigation into the matter and for appropriate disciplinary action to be taken against\u2062 the employees\u200c responsible. \u2063They argue that\u200b such actions are necessary to restore public trust in the FBI and to ensure that individuals are not unfairly targeted based on their religious beliefs.<\/p>\n<p>The \u200dmemo controversy serves as a reminder of the importance of maintaining impartiality and adhering to \u200dthe principles\u2062 of fairness \u200cand\u2062 equality when conducting law enforcement activities. \u2062It highlights\u2062 the need for robust \u200dinternal oversight \u2063and accountability measures within agencies like the FBI \u200dto prevent \u200cthe \u2062abuse of power and\u200b protect \u2062the rights of all\u2063 individuals, regardless of their religious or political affiliations.<\/p>\n<p>Moving forward, it is crucial for the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to address any potential biases\u200c or prejudices within their ranks and to \u200densure that all employees are held to the \u2064highest standards of professionalism and \u200bintegrity. Only by doing so can they regain\u2062 the public&#8217;s \u200dtrust and fulfill their\u2064 mission of protecting and serving all Americans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During a Senate hearing, FBI Director Christopher Wray stated that employees responsible for drafting a contentious memo against specific Catholics had been &#8220;admonished.&#8221; This response did not satisfy Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), who questioned Wray about the FBI&#8217;s handling of the memo distributed by their Richmond, Virginia, office<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2116808,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2116807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2116807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2116807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2116807\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2116808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2116807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2116807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2116807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}