Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) slammed former FBI Director Christopher Wray for “lying” to Congress two years ago about widely circulating a memo warning about “Radical Traditionalist Catholics.”
As Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, Grassley obtained documents that confirmed the memo was not solely circulated within the Richmond, Virginia, office, as Wray testified to the committee on two occasions. While on Fox News’s America’s Newsroom, Grassley responded to a clip of Wray’s testimony in December 2023.
“He is lying, and he ought to be followed up. Because if people that lie to Congress aren’t held accountable, it encourages more people to lie,” Grassley said on Thursday. “The fact is, we have had whistleblowers come to us since this famous Richmond memo was made public. We found out that 13 other documents went out, and at least 1,000 people had access to information that presumably was following up on some things that the Southern Poverty Law Center was telling people that the Catholic church needed to be watched because it could be considered a terrorist organization.”
Back in 2023, Grassley took time during the hearing to point out “portions of the memo that revealed involvement from at least two other FBI field offices, conflicting with Wray’s prior testimony,” as characterized by a press release from the time.
“Despite this evidence, the director doubled down on his assertion the memo was the product of only one FBI office,” the release read.
Wray confirmed that those involved in drafting the memo were not fired but “admonished.”
“The individuals involved in that product were not found to have engaged in any intentional or bad faith conduct,” Wray said.
FBI SENT ANTI-CATHOLIC MEMO TO OVER 1,000 EMPLOYEES, NEW RECORDS SHOW
The Washington Examiner verified that the FBI interviewed the two church leaders and found that the interviews were conducted as part of an investigation into one of the three criminal suspects cited in the memo. That suspect had been arrested and was found in possession of Molotov cocktails, a smoke grenade, smoke bombs, and firearm parts.
Grassley is now demanding answers on the FBI’s internal efforts to erase records related to the memo. In a letter written to FBI Director Kash Patel, Grassley insisted on knowing the name of the official who headed such efforts.