#USA #DC – The Justice Department released a Weaponization Working Group report on August 27, 2026, concluding that a 2023 FBI Richmond Field Office assessment improperly associated conservative Catholic beliefs with domestic violent extremism and led agents to investigate two priests who were never tied to a crime.
The report, prepared under Executive Order 14147, examined an internal product dated January 23, 2023, and titled “Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities.” The FBI later withdrew the document after it leaked on February 8, 2023. Internal reviews at the time found that it failed bureau standards by suggesting religious viewpoints aligned with terrorism without sufficient evidence and by creating the impression that the FBI investigated people because of religious beliefs.
The Working Group went further. After reviewing more than 1,800 pages of emails, assessments, and investigative files, it said the Biden-era FBI engaged in “improper and unjustified” law-enforcement and intelligence activity. Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Department would “not tolerate a weaponized bureaucracy that chills First Amendment activity.” Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward, Jr. called the memo “a clear abuse of power, targeting conservative and religious beliefs disfavored by agents of government who lacked necessary oversight.” FBI Director Kash Patel said those who developed the product had been held accountable and were no longer with the bureau.
According to the report, the memo grew out of a single criminal case. Agents had investigated a Virginia man, identified as “Target 1,” for violent, racially motivated online posts and later for firearms and destructive-device offenses. He attended a chapel not in full communion with the Catholic Church. From that contact, Richmond personnel interviewed his priest, expanded scrutiny to a second priest who was a relative, and began building a broader theory that “radical-traditionalist Catholics” presented a national threat. The Boston field office conducted airport surveillance of the second priest. Customs and Border Protection interviewed him twice and searched his phone. The FBI later closed both priest matters after finding no national-security threat and no federal violation.
The 2023 assessment defined “radical-traditionalist Catholics” as typically rejecting the Second Vatican Council, disdaining most post-conciliar popes, and frequently holding antisemitic, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ, and white-supremacist views. It predicted that extremist interest in that community would rise before the next election and listed abortion, immigration, affirmative action, and LGBTQ protections as possible “catalyzing events.” It also listed local chapels and a seminary, and recommended using church leaders as “suspicious activity tripwires.” The Working Group said analysts struggled to find supporting cases, uncovered little linking Catholics or breakaway groups to domestic extremism, and still pressed ahead. It also said the FBI relied on unverified material, including Southern Poverty Law Center publications and foreign intelligence, without adequately assessing credibility.
After headquarters ordered the memo deleted, Richmond staff continued refining the project, the report said. Leadership took “minimal corrective action,” and employees involved later received positive performance reviews. A 2024 Justice Department inspector general review had already flagged professional failures but found no evidence of malicious religious bias or an order to investigate Catholics because of their faith. The 2026 Working Group report treated the episode as an example of weaponization and said personnel connected to the product had been removed.
The Department said Attorney General Blanche granted a limited privilege waiver so underlying records could be released with the report. Officials invited anyone with similar concerns to come forward and said the Working Group’s review of prior conduct would continue.
The following slides below are taken from the report released on August 27th, 2026.
Cover Image: The J. Edgar Hoover building – the FBI headquarters in Washington D.C.
