The FBI on Thursday retracted an intelligence product from its Richmond field office that suggested some Roman Catholics be viewed as radical extremist threats and urged agents to infiltrate certain groups from the world's largest Christian faith.
The episode is the latest to sully the FBI's reputation, raising fresh concerns about political bias and civil liberties. It came a little over a year after an earlier bungled effort sought to treat parents protesting at school board meetings as domestic terrorism threats.
In a statement to Just the News, the FBI said the product made public by a former FBI agent and whistleblower, Kyle Seraphin, was circulated only inside the bureau and did not meet the agency's investigative requirements,
“While our standard practice is to not comment on specific intelligence products, this particular field office product — disseminated only within the FBI — regarding racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism does not meet the exacting standards of the FBI," the bureau said.