Christopher Wray referred to DOJ over claims he misled lawmakers on Catholic memo, China probes

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A Washington-based authorities transparency watchdog has referred former FBI Director Christopher Wray to the Division of Justice and the FBI, urging a legal investigation into allegations that he had made false statements to Congress and obstructed proceedings in two high-profile instances.

Oversight Undertaking President Mike Howell instructed Fox Information Digital that the group is particularly asking officers to look at Wray's congressional testimony on the so-called Richmond memo from the FBI workplace in Virginia that uncovered an anti-Catholic bias there, and his testimony a few Chinese plot to disseminate illicit driver’s licenses earlier than the 2020 election.

In July 2023, Wray testified earlier than the Home Judiciary Committee on the FBI-Richmond memo that had labeled Catholics as potential home threats.

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Christopher Wray (Reuters)

"Effectively, what I can let you know is you’re referring to the Richmond product, which is a single product by a single subject workplace, which as quickly as I came upon about it, I used to be aghast and ordered it withdrawn and faraway from FBI methods," Wray mentioned.

The Oversight Undertaking alleges that assertion was in the end deceptive or false.

Rep. Tom Tiffany , R-Wis., pressed Wray on the Richmond memo and so-called "Trump questionnaire," which was circulated on the FBI and requested about allegiance to the president and whether or not brokers had attended any protests or rallies related to the Jan. 6 Capitol Breach.

"We hold listening to about these ‘remoted examples’ whether or not it is Richmond Catholics, this [questionnaire] -- is not it a sample?" Tiffany requested.

The Oversight Undertaking pointed to Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Charles Grassley’s opening remarks from a June listening to on Biden-era "cover-ups," wherein Grassley mentioned the Richmond memo "used the shoddy analysis of the novel Southern Poverty Legislation Middle to accuse conventional Catholics of being violent extremists."

"Primarily based on records I released the opposite week, there wasn’t only one FBI doc that used biased anti-Catholic sources , however over a dozen," Grassley mentioned. The referral additionally notes that this comment by Grassley belies Wray’s testimony suggesting a one-off incident.

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"And extra FBI subject places of work had been concerned than we’d been led to imagine," Grassley, R-Iowa, mentioned.

A second Richmond memo just like the primary that went unreleased following the backlash was a part of a partially redacted series of documents Grassley’s committee transmitted to FBI Director Kash Patel in June. It acknowledged that the bureau "assesses RMVE (Racially Motivated Violent Extremism) curiosity in RTC (Radical Conventional Catholic) ideology is prone to enhance … within the run-up to the [2024] common election cycle."

"Director Wray’s testimony was inaccurate not solely as a result of it didn't reveal the scope of the memo’s manufacturing and dissemination, but additionally as a result of it didn't reveal the existence of a second, draft product on the identical subject meant for exterior distribution to the entire FBI," the Oversight Undertaking mentioned in a separate assertion. "That draft product was meant for distribution as a Strategic Perspective Government Analytic Report ("SPEAR"). It was clearly a separate product."

The Oversight Undertaking particularly alleged violations of obstruction of proceedings earlier than Congress, perjury and false statements.

Fox Information Digital reached out to Grassley, who additionally instructed Fox Information’ Invoice Hemmer in June that he had discovered 13 different paperwork just like the Richmond memo. Grassley mentioned the paperwork had gone out and that "no less than 1,000 folks had entry to info that … was telling people who the Catholic Church wanted to be watched as a result of it may very well be thought-about a terrorist group."

Fox Information Digital reached out to a telephone quantity related to Wray however didn't obtain a response.

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Patel cited the CCP affect case in a June assertion, declaring that "former FBI management withheld the info and misled the general public on China’s 2020 election interference. They usually did so for political achieve. This FBI is exposing all of it and giving Individuals the reality they deserve."

Patel claimed the FBI in 2020 "buried" proof "for political comfort" and thanked Grassley for serving to the present FBI brass deliver the subject to mild.

Throughout September 2020 testimony, Wray instructed Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., that the FBI had "not seen traditionally any type of coordinated nationwide voter fraud effort in a serious election, whether or not by-mail or in any other case."

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Wray added that the FBI had recognized localized voter fraud and that his testimony was not meant to downplay the overarching risk.

Howell’s group argues these statements had been belied by paperwork Patel gave to Congress in June that reportedly confirmed issues in August 2020 that China had mass-produced such faux IDs to assist former President Joe Biden.

The legal referral towards Wray additionally cites a associated August 2020 seizure of 20,000 counterfeit licenses by Customs and Border Safety in Illinois. A Chicago port official told Fox News on the time that the proliferation "can result in disastrous penalties."

It's unclear if any ballots had been forged as a part of the scheme.

Throughout a 2020 address to the Hudson Institute , Wray did warn of the CCP risk to the upcoming election and past:

"China’s malign international affect marketing campaign targets our insurance policies, our positions, 24/7, Twelve months-a-year. So it’s not an election‑particular risk. It’s actually extra of an all‑yr, all‑the‑time risk. However definitely that has implications for elections, they usually definitely have preferences that go together with that," he mentioned.

The FBI and Division of Justice didn't instantly reply to Fox Information Digital's request for remark.

Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox Information Digital.

He joined Fox Information in 2013 as a author and manufacturing assistant.

Charles covers media , politics and tradition for Fox Information Digital.

Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple College with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story ideas might be despatched to charles.creitz@fox.com.