Chris Wray referred to DOJ for misleading lawmakers on memo claiming traditional Catholics were domestic extremists

Former FBI Director Christopher Wray has been referred to the DOJ for having allegedly misled lawmakers on a department memo claiming that traditional Catholics are domestic extremists.

Wray was referred by the Oversight Project, which urged "a criminal investigation into allegations that he had made false statements to Congress and obstructed proceedings in two high-profile cases," reports Fox News.

Oversight Project Mike Howell said that he's interested in an examination of Wray's testimony on the memo from the Richmond FBI office that cited far-left activist groups in a determination that Catholics who attend Latin Mass are domestic extremists. Howell is also interested to know more about Wray's testimony claiming that the Chinese had a scheme to distribute fake driver's licenses ahead of the 2020 election.

The memo, about which Wray testified before Congress in July 2023, was rescinded in February 2023 by the FBI. "Well, what I can tell you is you’re referring to the Richmond product, which is a single product by a single field office, which as soon as I found out about it, I was aghast and ordered it withdrawn and removed from FBI systems," Wray said at the time.

The House Judiciary Committee revealed after Wray's testimony that the FBI relied on offices across the country to develop its assessment of traditional Catholics as potential domestic terrorists.

"While our standard practice is to not comment on specific intelligence products," the FBI said in the retraction, "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."

"Director Wray’s testimony was inaccurate not only because it failed to reveal the scope of the memo’s production and dissemination, but also because it failed to reveal the existence of a second, draft product on the same topic intended for external distribution to the whole FBI," the Oversight Project said separately. "That draft product was intended for distribution as a Strategic Perspective Executive Analytic Report ('SPEAR'). It was clearly a separate product."

"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 bureau said in their rescinding of the memo.

"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 House GOP in the Weaponization of Government Committee revealed in December 2023 that the FBI considered developing sources from among the Catholic clergy and had interviewed a priest and choir director affiliated with a Catholic Church in Richmond, VA.

They also discovered that "there was no legitimate basis for the memorandum to insert federal law enforcement into Catholic houses of worship."