The U.S. bishops, along with many Catholic leaders, condemned the memo after it was leaked to the press. Additionally, lawmakers, some of whom have accused the FBI of targeting traditionalist Catholics, have demanded answers from the Department of Justice as to how, why, and through whom the document came to be.
The report, which Horowitz said included only a “limited review” due to time constraints given by Congress, focused on the work of two unnamed analysts who were the main authors behind the memo titled: “Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities.”
Both analysts denied targeting anyone for practicing their faith, with one of them saying suggestions that his motivations included anti-Catholic bias are “patently false.”
“Analyst 1 also stated that a close reading of the [memo] would show that it was intended to focus entirely on the threat posed by RMVEs and to promote outreach to the Catholic Church, in part to protect that community from potentially violent actors. Analyst 2 similarly stated the intent behind the [memo] was to try to protect these houses of worship by sensitizing them to a potential threat to their congregations,” the report said.
Another major concern raised by critics of the leaked memo was the Richmond field office’s use of biased sourcing, such as the nonprofit activist organization Southern Poverty Law Center, and its designation of nine “Radical Traditional Catholicism” organizations as “hate groups.”
The inspector general asked both analysts about its sourcing and both “acknowledged that there were concerns about perceived bias on the part of those organizations and sources,” the report said.
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