The U.S. Department of Justice released a report detailing anti-Christian bias under the Biden administration, including prosecutors' text messages expressing intent to target Catholic nuns at the January 6 rally and an FBI memo equating traditional Catholics with extremists. Building on prior findings about FACE Act misuse against pro-life activists, the report highlights internal concerns and biased enforcement.
The Justice Department issued a report on Thursday outlining alleged anti-Christian bias across federal agencies during former President Joe Biden's term. Key revelations included text messages, obtained by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), from DOJ prosecutors Joseph Cooney and Molly Gaston reacting to a New York Times photo of nuns in traditional habits at the January 6, 2021, rally. Gaston wrote, “I would like to take a special assignment of finding and prosecuting them.” Cooney replied, “I’m with you. Although I’d like to prosecute any nun who still wears the head habit.” Then: “Hahaha.” Cooney is now running for Virginia’s 7th congressional district, as first reported by The Daily Wire. The report scrutinized the FBI’s “Richmond Memo,” issued in early 2023 by the Richmond field office under Stanley Meador—now Virginia’s Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security. This “Domain Perspective” threat assessment linked “radical-traditionalist Catholic (RTC)” ideology to racially motivated violent extremists, relying on the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Leaked in February 2023, it was retracted amid backlash. Internal FBI emails raised doubts about SPLC’s credibility, citing its subjective hate group designations and prior retractions, but these were ignored. Meador told an apologizing agent on July 7, 2023: “No apology needed [redacted]... Will make for a great chapter in your memoirs some day!” The report also addressed Biden DOJ patterns under the FACE Act targeting pro-life defendants—mostly Christians—such as the raid on Catholic father Mark Houck’s home with 16 agents, as detailed in the Weaponization Working Group’s prior report. Then-FBI Director Christopher Wray said the memo did “not reflect FBI standards.” Current FBI Director Kash Patel informed investigators that groups like SPLC fed false information to justify targeting people of faith.
