Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 18, 2023 / 10:05 am
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan on Monday threatened to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress if the bureau does not comply with congressional subpoenas related to evidence that the agency may have spied on Catholic Americans.
Jordan last week grilled Wray during his testimony concerning a leaked memo from the bureau’s Richmond division that described plans to investigate Catholic communities. The document discussed monitoring what it deemed “radical-traditionalist” Catholics over alleged concerns of violent extremism among the lay faithful.
At the hearing, Jordan and other members of the committee asked Wray why he has not released the names of the FBI agents involved in crafting the memo and why the FBI has refused to provide an unredacted copy of it.
Wray told Jordan that the FBI is conducting an internal review of that memo and that the bureau would be willing to “work collaboratively with the committee” as part of the congressional investigation. In his letter this week, Jordan said the FBI’s response to congressional subpoenas has been “wholly inadequate and has materially impeded the committee’s oversight efforts.”