Biden FBI Targets the Church!

Judicial Watch and CatholicVote Sue FBI and Justice Department for Records of Targeting Catholics
Biden National Archives Hides Over 85% of Trump Raid Records
Biden Greatly Expands Program to offer Illegals “Temporary” Reprieve

Judicial Watch and CatholicVote Sue FBI and Justice Department for Records of Targeting Catholics

The Biden administration is shredding the First Amendment – censoring our freedom of expression by colluding with Big Tech in a massive effort to suppress speech on social media under the pretext of removing “misinformation” and “disinformation” and “protecting national security.” And now, the Biden FBI is going after our freedom of religion – targeting Catholics who adhere to traditional beliefs on abortion and other cultural issues.

That’s why we filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit along with CatholicVote Civic Action against the FBI and the Department of Justice for records containing keywords and records about an FBI intelligence memo targeting ‘radical traditionalist’ Catholics (CatholicVote Civic Action and Judicial Watch, Inc. v. Federal Bureau of Investigations and Department of Justice (No. 1:23-cv-01166)).

In February 2023, an FBI intelligence document was leaked that revealed FBI targeting ” of Catholics who adhere to traditional beliefs on abortion and other cultural issues. The Catholic News Agency reported: “The leaked document has been condemned by several federal and state officials, as well as clergy, including Bishop Barry Knestout of the Diocese of Richmond, who recently called the memo a ‘threat to religious liberty.’”

On March 8, 2023, we teamed up with CatholicVote and sent four FOIA requests to the FBI, which is a division of the Department of Justice) for:

(a) All emails, Lync messages, and text messages sent to and from the following FBI Headquarters officials: Director Christopher Wray, Deputy Director Paul Abbate, Asst. Director George P. Beach, II, General Counsel Jason Jones, Chief of Staff Jonathan Lenzner, Executive Asst. Dir. Larissa Knapp, and Asst. Dir. Timothy Langan for the period March 1, 2022, to the present referencing:

• • “Catholics”
  • “Latin Mass”
  • “Radical-Traditionalist Catholics”
  • “RTC”
  • “Church Militant”
  • “Catholic League”
  • “Southern Poverty Law Center”
  • “SPLC”
  • “Pope Francis”
  • “Vatican II”
  • “Second Vatican Council”
  • “Rosary”
  • “FSSP”

(b) All emails, Lync messages, and text messages sent to and from the following FBI Richmond Field Office (RFO) officials: SAIC Stanley Meador, ASAIC David Lewis, ASAIC Stephen Farina, and the FBI Richmond Chief Division Counsel for the period March 1, 2022 to the present referencing:

• • “Catholics”
  • “Latin Mass”
  • “Radical-Traditionalist Catholics”
  • “RTC”
  • “Church Militant”
  • “Catholic League”
  • “Southern Poverty Law Center”
  • “SPLC”
  • “Pope Francis”
  • “Vatican II”
  • “Second Vatican Council”
  • “Rosary”
  • “FSSP”

(c) All emails, Lync messages, and text messages sent to and from the following FBI Headquarters officials: Director Christopher Wray, Deputy Director Paul Abbate, Asst. Director George P. Beach, II, General Counsel Jason Jones, Chief of Staff Jonathan Lenzner, Executive Asst. Dir. Larissa Knapp, and Asst. Dir. Timothy Langan for the period March 1, 2022, to the present referencing:

• • actions taken to remove the Intelligence Note from FBI systems;
  • the FBI review of (1) the basis for the Intelligence Note and (2) any official FBI actions taken pursuant to the Intelligence Note

(d) All emails, Lync messages, and text messages sent to and from the following FBI Richmond Field Office (RFO) officials: SAIC Stanley Meador, ASAIC David Lewis, ASAIC Stephen Farina, and the FBI Richmond Chief Division Counsel for the period March 1, 2022, to the present referencing:

• • actions taken to remove the Intelligence Note from FBI systems;
  • the FBI review of (1) the basis for the Intelligence Note; (2) any official FBI actions taken pursuant to the Intelligence Note

Also, on March 8, 2023, we and CatholicVote sent similar FOIA requests to the U.S. Department of Justice; Office of the Attorney General and Office of the Deputy Attorney General.

“Our weaponized and corrupt government agencies have demonstrated a pattern of contempt for justice and the rule of law by prioritizing partisan ideology and agendas over the protection of the American people – in particular those with whom they disagree politically,” said CatholicVote President Brian Burch. “We are demanding transparency from our government and are determined to uncover just how high up the anti-Catholic bigotry goes.”

In a brazen attack on the First Amendment and Christians, the Biden FBI planned to treat Catholics as potential terrorists and spy on them in their churches, and now, as our new FOIA lawsuit shows, the FBI and Justice Departments are trying to cover their tracks by hiding documents about this growing scandal.

(CatholicVote.org is a community of patriotic Americans who believe that the timeless truths of the Catholic faith are good for America. It makes its mission “to inspire every Catholic in America to live out the truths of our faith in public life.”)

Biden National Archives Hides Over 85% of Trump Raid Records

The Biden administration’s National Archives is hiding almost every record it has about its manufactured records dispute with President Trump.

As of March 31, the agency has released only 1,276 pages of over 8,000 records about the unprecedented document dispute and raid on the home of former President Trump. Click here or here to review the records.

The records were released as the result of our August 2022 FOIA lawsuit filed after the National Archives and Records Administration unlawfully failed to respond to a February 2022 FOIA request (Judicial Watch v National Archives and Records Administration (No. 1:22-cv-02535)) for:

• All records regarding the referral from NARA to the Department of Justice regarding the records management procedures of former President Donald Trump (https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/national-archives-asks-doj-investigate-trumps-handling-white/story?id=82781128 ). This request includes all related records of communication between any official or employee of NARA and any official or employee of the Department of Justice and/or any other branch, department, agency, or office of the federal government.
• All records regarding the retrieval of records from President Trump or any individual or entity acting on his behalf by the National Archives and Records Administration. This request includes related records of communication between any official or employee of NARA and President Trump and/or any individual or entity acting on his behalf.

The records uncovered by our lawsuit include information further confirming how the Biden White House was directly involved in the dispute by initiating “special access request” that spurred an FBI investigation of Trump’s records. Gary Stern, general counsel for the National Archives wrote to his colleagues on August 23, 2022:

And, this evening the Post just published a new story detailing an April 12, email that I sent to the Trump reps concerning the DOJ special access request for the 15 Trump boxes, along with many other details concerning the DOJ request and the overall issue. [Redacted]

“On April 12, an Archives official emailed Philbin [former White House deputy counsel Pat Philbin] and John Eisenberg, another former deputy White House counsel, to tell them the Justice Department, via the Biden White House, had made the request. The email offered the lawyers the opportunity to view the documents as well, but said the documents were too sensitive to be removed from the agency’s secure facility.”

We are in the forefront in the court battle for transparency regarding the abusive and unprecedented Biden administration raid on Trump’s home.

In August 2022, we forced the release of the raid affidavit through its court request to unseal the warrant materials used in the unprecedented raid on the home of former President Trump.

In September 2022, we filed lawsuits against the DOJ for its records and the FBI’s records about the Mar-a-Lago raid search warrant application and approval, as well as communications about the warrant between the FBI, Executive Office of the President and the Secret Service.

In October 2022, we sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for all communications of the U.S. Secret Service internally and with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) regarding the raid on Trump’s home and for any video or audio recordings made during the raid.

In November 2022, we sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for all communications between the Secret Service and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) regarding the search warrant that precipitated the raid on former Trump’s Florida residence at Mar-a-Lago.

The Biden administration’s abuse of Trump (and the rule of law) will only expand and you can be sure Judicial Watch will stand fast for the rule of law at every turn.

Biden Greatly Expands Program to offer Illegals “Temporary” Reprieve

Regular followers of our reporting will not be at all surprised by anything the Biden administration destruction of our sovereignty and open borders. Our Corruption Chronicles blog has the latest insult to U.S. citizens and the rule of law:

Besides condoning record-breaking illegal immigration (2.4 million migrants in fiscal year 2022), the Biden administration is quietly protecting hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals who for years have lived in the U.S. illegally by multiplying a program designed to offer temporary reprieve. The provisional amnesty is known as Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a humanitarian measure designed to shield undocumented aliens from deportation during emergencies. It is supposed to be a short-term solution for foreigners that do not quality as refugees but cannot immediately return home because of difficulties caused by factors such as violence, natural disasters, or political and economic instability. TPS, which is typically granted in 18-month increments, not only protects foreign nationals from deportation it also allows them to work in the U.S.

The Obama administration went crazy with TPS, renewing it for tens of thousands of Hondurans and Nicaraguans more than a decade and a half after a hurricane hit the Central American nations, prolonging it for Africans two years after originally issuing it due to Ebola, and repeatedly restoring it for tens of thousands of Haitians years after an earthquake struck the impoverished island. During its two terms the Obama administration never missed an opportunity to offer illegal immigrants reprieve, using inclement weather in the U.S., a virus, natural disasters and tainted water in an American city to extend the perk. Nationals of Yemen have been protected by both Democrats and Republicans, receiving TPS over “ongoing armed conflict” under Obama and two extensions under Trump. It is worth noting that Yemen is a hotbed of terrorism that serves as the headquarters of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

In an apparent effort to keep its promise of rebuilding a safe, orderly and humane immigration system that Biden asserts “was gutted by the previous Administration,” the president has greatly expanded the number of immigrants who qualify for TPS, a new report reveals. Using figures obtained from the government, the report, published by a well-known nonpartisan think tank, estimates that 670,000 individuals from 16 countries are either registered for TPS or newly eligible for it. Illegal aliens from the following countries currently benefit from the temporary reprieve: Afghanistan, Cameroon, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Syria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Ukraine, Venezuela and Yemen. El Salvador leads with more than 190,000 TPS beneficiaries in the U.S. followed by Venezuela (171,550) and Haiti (105,000), the figures show.

The moment he got elected president, Biden worked to broaden the TPS program adding several countries including Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar, Ukraine and Venezuela. The administration has also extended the terms of eligibility for those that were already covered by the amnesty, according to the report. The commander-in-chief has also fought to get Congress to pass a law allowing TPS recipients to receive legal residency (also known as a green card) that would eventually allow them to become American citizens. “The Biden administration’s expansions stand in contrast to the Trump administration’s efforts to end TPS for nearly all beneficiaries, which were blocked by a series of lawsuits,” the report states. “Those lawsuits are ongoing and continue to threaten the future of the TPS program and create uncertainty for its participants.”

Most illegal immigrants protected under TPS have lived in the U.S. for decades and have settled in every state with California, Florida, New York and Texas seeing the largest numbers. The humanitarian relief was approved by Congress as part of the Immigration Act of 1990 and gives the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary the authority to designate a country for TPS to offer safe haven to foreign nationals who do not qualify for asylum but claim to be fleeing a potentially dangerous situation back home. The government is required to announce 60 days before any TPS designation expires whether it will be extended. If it does not the TPS automatically extends for six months.

Until next week,