Wray's Federal Bureau of Intimidation

The FBI's already tarnished public image is deteriorating. Recent incidents are shining a light on the agency's increasing targeting of Americans for activities the bureau has labeled as domestic terrorism. In the latest revelation, the FBI spied on Catholics in a clear violation of the First Amendment.  

During the last 18 months, the FBI has used its assets to go after Americans speaking out at school board meetings, coordinated with social media companies to suppress speech, illegally spied on a political campaign and surveilled black activists. The conduct is taking a toll on trust in the FBI.

The latest NBC News Poll, conducted in July, found that only 37% of registered voters surveyed had a positive view of the FBI.  In the same poll in October of 2018, more than half of Americans (52%) viewed the FBI favorably.  That's a precipitous fall that should concern FBI Director Christopher Wray.

Apparently, it doesn't.

How else can you explain Wray's testimony before a Congressional committee about reports the FBI targeted so-called "radical traditionalist" Catholics as potential domestic terrorists? 

The director testified in July before the House Judiciary Committee about the disturbing allegation.  A smiling Wray under withering interrogation assured members the FBI's action was limited "to a single office" in Richmond, VA. He claimed it was a regrettable blunder that he immediately halted.  

The clamor died down until House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan requested an un-redacted copy of the Richmond office's memo.  The agency document divulged the Richmond office relied on information from field offices in Los Angeles and Portland for contributions to the threat assessment.

The new information proves that Wray's statements  were inaccurate. And that's being overly charitable. The agency's actions were not limited to a single office.  If multiple offices were involved, how could the FBI director be so ill informed about his department's probe?

The FBI memo reviewed by the committee reveals "radical traditionalist" Catholics" were targets over concerns their beliefs may be interpreted as violent views.  Volatile issues cited in the memo include views on "abortion rights" and "LGBTQ protections," writes the National Catholic Register.

The FBI memo appears to imply that being pro-life or holding beliefs that there are only two genders (male and female) are tangentially related to violent, extremest views, which threaten public safety. This  appears to criminalize the doctrine of the Catholic Church.  

Included in the memo is an Orwellian recommendation that FBI agents attempt to recruit traditionalist Catholics to keep tabs on so-called "radical traditionalists" in their congregation.  The FBI conduct smacks of Soviet-style efforts to intimidate houses of worship that don't embrace government dogma.    

Let's make it clear what is going on at the highest levels of government in Washington. If your beliefs run counter to government doctrine, then the FBI considers you a potential terrorist threat. The chilling inference is that religious theology must align with the federal government's doctrine.   

The FBI's action is a direct threat to the First Amendment guarantee of the free exercise of religion and sends a frightening message about the practice of faith.  Whatever your political affiliation, this is a stunning abuse of power.  Do you want the FBI criminalizing Americans religious beliefs? 

What's ironic is the FBI appears to have no interest in investigating the rise in attacks on Catholic Churches. Last year there were at least 272 incidents in 43 states, including arson, vandalism, the beheading of statues, smashed windows and gravestone defaced with swastikas and anti-Catholic slurs. 

The spike in violence appears to have escalated after the leak of the Supreme Court's draft proposal to overturn Roe V Wade. In anticipation of the final decision, abortion activists unleashed a wave of angry protests against pro-life pregnancy centers and Catholic Churches. 

The result was an increase in anti-Catholic rhetoric from politicians, government officials and activists. It is ironic, since Pew Research polls have shown 56% of Catholic believe abortion should be legal. That is almost the same percentage of all Americans (61%) who support abortion. 

Instead of snooping on Catholics, the FBI should be dedicating resources to address the rising attacks against all churches.  A recent Hostility Against Churches report, authored by the Family Research Council, found that incidents in the first three months of this year are three times higher than last year. 

The research council study identified 420 incidents, including gun-related incidents and bomb threats from January 2018 to September 2022.  The FRC warns the "anger and division" in American society endangers not only churches but erodes religious freedom.

Christians aren't the only ones being targeted. Antisemitic incidents skyrocketed 36% last year. A report from the Anti-Defamation League found there were 3,697 incidents of harassment, vandalism and assaults targeting Jewish people and communities.  

The report concludes that public officials, including some in Congress, famous artists and social media stars have been "instrumental in normalizing longstanding antisemitic tropes."  To some, lack of action by federal law enforcement implies the threats do not rise to level of FBI concern.  

Christopher Wray needs to be hauled before Congress and questioned about what the FBI is doing to stop the rising violence against religions and religious people.  The FBI's mission is to uphold the Constitution, which guarantees the right to practice religion free from intimidation.

Americans religious beliefs are not subject to FBI oversight.  Period.  

Unjust DOJ Cracks Down On FBI Criticism

Criticism of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is now off limits. President Biden, the Department of Justice and the FBI's top official have deemed it dangerous to question the agency's integrity. Their puffed up outrage comes after the FBI raided the home of former President Donald Trump.

No one in the administration appears concerned about the chilling effect of dispatching more than 30 armed FBI agents to carry out an unprecedented search at the residence of Biden's chief political rival. All the facts in the case are still being sorted, but that hasn't stopped damaging DOJ leaks to the media.

After the raid, Republicans castigated the FBI.  Democrats acted as if criticism of the agency was an act of terrorism.  Apparently, they do not recognize their own hypocrisy. The party has often been critical of the FBI when it suited their politics. 

Democrats were indignant when then FBI Director James Comey sent a letter to Congress in 2016 about an investigation of Hillary Clinton's emails in the heat of a presidential election.  Comey was excoriated for attempting to influence and manipulate the election.  Clinton blamed Comey for her defeat.

Do you remember any Democrats grumbling that it is unpatriotic to critique the FBI?  Me neither.  The fact is the FBI's credibility already rests on thin ice. Just consider the agency's handling of former Secretary of State Clinton, who had classified emails on a server at her residence in New York state.

There were no armed FBI raids on her residence to seize the server. Perhaps there should have been. Clinton aides destroyed her mobile devices with a hammer and her attorney deleted about 32,000 emails which Clinton later claimed were "personal."  The FBI never examined those deleted emails.

Forget your Trump hated for a moment and ask yourself this question: Why did the FBI handle the Clinton and Trump cases involving classified information so differently?  Media fact-checkers have issued parsed explanations on why the two cases are not similar.  That doesn't answer the question about equal treatment by the FBI.

If this was the only example of politicized agents and questionable investigations, the FBI's motives might not be under extreme scrutiny. But it's not.  

The FBI and DOJ used opposition research from Hillary Clinton's campaign to gin up a bogus investigation about collusion between President Trump and Russia. The bureau issued warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to spy on Carter Page, Trump's campaign manager.

In the wake of the Russian hoax, Former FBI Director Andrew McCabe was fired for misleading investigators about the Clinton connection and for perpetuating the fiction. McCabe was a top official, not some flunky.  

A couple of weeks ago GOP Senator Chuck Grassley revealed that whistleblowers inside the FBI had outed an agency employee who tried to discredit and shut down the investigation into Hunter Biden's business dealings.  The insiders allege the agent ran interference to halt further inquiries. 

Whistleblowers fingered high-ranking agent Timothy Thibault. FBI Director Christopher Ray called the allegations against Thibault "deeply troubling." He pledged that whistleblowers would be protected.  Apparently he didn't check with DOJ head Merritt Garland.

Within days, Merritt Garland issued a memo banning communications with members of Congress by Justice Department employees, including FBI agents. Garland's pretense was to protect the employees from "partisan or other inappropriate influences." No, his intent is to silence whistleblowers. 

Garland is clearly worried about leaks about his agency's bias against Republicans.  He has good reason to be after Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg revealed an attempt by FBI sources to quash stories about the Hunter Biden laptop during the 2020 election. 

A politicized FBI and Justice Department are imminent threats to democracy. Garland needs to reign in partisan FBI agents and avoid politicizing investigations.   If he refuses, the president should fire Garland and then clean house at the FBI and DOJ.  

Anti-Semitism: The Scourge That Won't Subside

The world cannot seem to shake more than one-thousand years of Anti-Semitism.  Despite determined efforts to stamp out all hate crimes, persecution of Jews continues unabated.  Even in America, Jews are being targeted in larger numbers than ever for their religious beliefs.

Recently, many Americans recoiled in horror after a gunman mowed down 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.  They were marked for assassination by their executioner for practicing their Jewish faith.  The victims were innocent people whose "crime" was their Jewishness.

Coincidentally, within days of the slaughter, the FBI released data showing Jewish people and institutions were most frequently targeted, accounting for 58.1 percent of all religious based hate crime.  Muslims ranked a distant second at 18.6 percent.  The FBI data is for the year 2017.

The mainstream media as expected needed a scapegoat for the increase in violence against Jews.  To no one's surprise they blamed the rhetoric of President Trump for the murderous rampage.  That may be the most nonsensical, unsubstantiated charge ever leveled against this president.

The president's son-in-law Jared Kushner is Jewish.  Mr. Trump's daughter Ivanka, who is married to Kushner, converted to Judaism.  The couple's children are being raised in the Jewish faith.  Mr. Trump has been the most pro-Israel president in history.

Name just one anti-Jewish statement uttered by Mr. Trump.  Or a Anti-Semitic tweet.  You can't do it because none exist.  The media and politicians know that too but they are never, ever going to expose the No. 1 Jew Hater in America. 

The truth is that the mainstream media, politicians and black leaders are afraid to point the finger at the prime source of Anti-Semitism in this country.  His name is Minister Louis Farrakhan, an 84-year-old African-American who bills himself as the leader of the Nation of Islam.

Despite his decades-long openly Anti-Semitic crusade, no one dares condemn him.  He has the ear of powerful politicians.  He has been photographed with everyone from Barrack Obama to Democratic senators and representatives  Their silence is tacit endorsement for his poisonous hatred.

When he is not denigrating Jews, this pseudo minister rallies his followers to support his favored politicians.  In 1988, he exhorted his disciples to back Jesse Jackson's bid for the Democratic Party nomination.  He was back in the news in 1995, helping organize the 'Million Man March,"

These activities give him a certain cache among politicians, especially Democrats and the Congressional Black Caucus.  But make no mistake about his putrid ideology.  This man is a Jew hating psychopath who at times has all but called for genocide against Jews.

In his latest rant, Farrakhan compared Jews to "termites," borrowing the same description the German Nazis used during their bloodthirsty campaign to exterminate the Jewish race.  Not a single African-American senator or representative had the guts to castigate this vile man. Not one.

The Anti-Defamation League, a pro-Jewish group, cited a recent report that social media harassment of Jewish Americans increased during the latest election.  While social media platforms regularly censor conservative views, Farrakhan is treated with kid gloves.  He is The Untouchable.

Imagine if anyone was preaching this same kind of hatred against Muslims.  The national uproar would be deafening.  Why does this nation and others tolerate blatantly anti-Jewish hate speech? There is only one conclusion to draw.  Anti-Semitism exists because we allow it. 

A few Swastikas spray painted on synagogues is treated as a prank.  A smashed widow at a Jewish shop is just a petty crime.  Even the horrific Pittsburgh murders did not generate the same level of inflamed news coverage as school shootings or the most recent carnage at a California bar and grill.

As long as the Louis Farrakhan's of the world are freely allowed to spew venom about Jews without any retribution, the level of violence against Jews will only increase.  If our politicians won't stand up against this wretched evil man, then the American people must take matters in their own hands.

A nation that condones anti-Semitism is destined to follow the road that leads to Nazism.  That may sound like hyperbole to some of you, but remember the German people refused to raise their voices while Hitler's goon squads rounded up Jews and sent millions to their deaths.  Silence is consent.

Raise your voices.  We are Americans.  We don't condone hatred of any religious group. Those who embrace hatred do not deserve a public platform despite our First Amendment guarantee of Free Speech.  It is time to muffle Farrakhan and banish this religious bigot from the American stage. 

Stonewalling FBI and DOJ Losing Public Trust

Drip. Drip. Drip.  That's the sound of the FBI and Department of Justice releasing documents ordered by Congressional oversight groups.  Requests are slow-walked.  Months pass without action. Then the agencies release a trickle of documents, always heavily redacted.  Drip. Drip. Drip.

Two house committees are losing patience with the government foot-dragging.  Committee chairmen are threatening to slap subpoenas on the nation's top law enforcement agency and the justice department over what appears to be a deliberate attempt to thwart Congressional investigations.

The simmering dispute threatens to boil over into a Constitutional crisis.  The FBI and Department of Justice are acting as if they are above the law.  They were warned in December to produce documents in a timely manner or face contempt citations. The agencies just shrugged.

While stonewalling Congress, the FBI and DOJ have treated the media to a flood of information.  Both have leaked details on the probes to newspaper and television reporters, while obstructing the Congressional investigations with flimsy excuses for noncompliance.

The House Judiciary Committee and the House Intelligence Committee are growing impatient.  Only a fraction of the hundreds of thousands requested by the committees have been released by justice and the FBI.  Both agencies blithely admit they have been negligent, unafraid of blowback.

Justice Department official Ian Prior acknowledged his agency has discovered more than 30,000 documents responsive to Judiciary's request.  Thus far it has delivered 3,000 documents, Prior publicly conceded.  He claimed two dozen FBI agents were assisting on the document search.

The House Intelligence Committee has experienced the same government stiff arm.  It has asked for 1.2 million documents related to its probe on the government's actions with regard to charges of spying on the Trump campaign.  To date, the FBI has handed over a few thousand documents. 

The government's behavior raises troubling questions about why they have not been forthcoming.  What are they hiding?  Have documents been destroyed? Are the two agencies complicit in a cover up?  Who are they protecting? Only full disclosure can resolve those issues and restore credibility.

The two high-ranking government officials gumming the document discovery process are FBI Director Christopher Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.  They have unambiguous  authority to order their departments to fully comply with document requests in a timely manner.

After blistering Congressional condemnations,  director Wray has lifted the embargo, if only slightly.  He announced plans last week to double the FBI agents to 54 on the document search. In a rare moment of contrition, he said the current pace was "too slow."  A tortoise is speedier than the FBI.

If these agencies continue to frustrate the investigations, the House should vote to impeach Wray and Rosenstein.  It is time to hold them accountable for the action of their employees. The underlings (aka Deep State) in their agencies cannot be allowed to obstruct Congress without facing consequences.

Imagine for a moment if the FBI or DOJ had requested documents of a business firm as part of a government investigation.  What do you think would happen if the business decided to dribble a tiny portion of the documents?  The CEO would face an obstruction of justice charge and jail time.

The FBI and DOJ cannot be allowed to skirt the same laws they are duty bound to enforce. The two agencies are behaving as anarchists who are unaccountable to Congress.  Both are losing the trust of Americans who are convinced the agencies have been corrupted by politically partisanship.

There is a way to restore confidence.  The House should vote to appoint a special counsel to get to the bottom of the FBI's handling of Hillary Clinton's email server investigation and the DOJ involvement in authorizing FBI surveillance of the Trump campaign, including alleged FISA court abuses.

If the DOJ and FBI have nothing to conceal, they should welcome an opportunity to clear the air.  However, they obviously don't want anyone snooping in their business.  Otherwise they would have long ago surrendered the documents sought by Congress.  So what are they hiding? And why?

The Secret Court Behind the Scandal

A little known court cloaked in secrecy is at heart of the unraveling Washington scandal involving surveillance of the Trump campaign. The acronym for the court--FISA--has been peppered throughout news reports and in the just  released GOP House Intelligence Committee memo.

FISA is an enigma to most Americans.  That's because it is intentionally hidden from the public. It operates in stealth secrecy behind closed doors in a nondescript federal court building in Washington. Although records are kept of its proceedings, the details are unavailable to the public.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978 was shepherded through Congress by Democrat Senator Ted Kennedy.  The law, signed by President Carter, was spawned by President Nixon's use of government resources to spy on political and activist groups.

FISA spelled out procedures for electronic snooping and collection of information on foreign powers and their agents.  The law created a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC)  to oversee government requests for surveillance warrants.

There are 11 FISC judges currently on the court.  The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court appoints sitting federal judges to this part-time assignment.  The judges serve seven-year terms in addition to their regular duties as federal magistrates.   FISC judges are on call 24/7.

Their job is to review requests for warrants sought primarily by the FBI and the National Security Agency (NSA) for surveillance of foreign intelligence agents operating inside the U.S.  The hearings are a one-sided affair with no one present outside the federal government.

If the FISC court rejects a request for a warrant, law enforcement agencies can appeal to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review.  That court is staffed by a three-judge panel.  It doesn't get much businesw because the FISC court rarely rejects a request out of hand.

In the 33-year period from 1979 to 2012, federal agencies made 33,942 requests for surveillance warrants.  Judges rejected a grand total of 12. In a few cases, the FISC court orders the government to modify its surveillance request before approving it.  But the majority are rubber stamped.  

In the years since the law became effective on October 25, 1978, Congress has tacked on a number of amendments widening the surveillance net.  FISA gives law enforcement the right to conduct a physical search of the premises, information or material used by a foreign agent or power.

However, the FISC court is limited to overseeing foreign--not domestic-- intelligence surveillance.  American citizens can be surveilled with a FISA warrant ONLY if there is evidence a crime has been committed while they were acting on behalf of a foreign government. 

After the deadly attacks of 9/11 on American soil, the act was again altered to include terrorists who are not backed by a foreign government.  In addition, the president is authorized to green light electronic surveillance of international calls and email linked to terrorist groups in case of an attack.

Americans have now discovered the FISA court was used to authorize eavesdropping on members of the Trump team. The so-called evidence that justified the court-sanctioned surveillance was a salacious dossier bankrolled by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic Party.

It is been publicly disclosed that the FISC court was not informed that the dossier was a paid political hit piece.  This is a serious omission that would have been challenged in an open proceeeding where the government is not the only party appearing in court.

This underscores what can happen when courts operate in secrecy without public oversight.  It is  chilling to consider the country's top law enforcement agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), can be weaponized against a political candidate by deceiving the FISA court.

This is not merely a political issue.  Spying on Americans without probable cause is a gross violation of civil libirities. It smacks of the tactics of a Russian regime that operates in the shadows to intimidate opposition and limit freedoms.  Nothing justifies illegal surveillance of Americans. 

Yet Democrats are desperately trying to shield the Obama Administration.  They fought tooth and nail to cover up the collusion between the FBI, the Department of Justice and the administration by opposing public release of the memo.  It stinks. Every American should be sickened.

In the days ahead, there will be calls for reform of surveillance laws.  The first act of Congress should be to shine some light on the FISC court.  This current kerfuffle cannot be the first and only abuse of a system shrouded in mystery. Lift the veil of secrecy or eliminate the FISC. And do it now.