ICYMI – Merrick Garland may soon face charges of lying to the Senate. Senator Josh Hawley fact checked what Garland told them in March, declaring it “false testimony.” Since he was under oath, that’s a crime called perjury. Lying under oath in Congress is an even worse offense.
Senate slams Merrick Garland
On Tuesday, April 11, Senator Josh Hawley “accused Attorney General Merrick Garland of providing false testimony to the Senate last month.” Laws don’t apply to the guy who gives orders to the FBI.
Garland swore up and down, under oath, that the Just Us Department “is not developing sources inside Catholic churches and other houses of worship.”
Then, fresh evidence surfaced. Hawley took an investigative report coming out of the House Judiciary Committee and stapled it to Garland’s forehead. Hawley covered extensive ground with Garland on that issue in the previous Senate hearing.
Hawley rips Garland for ‘false’ testimony on DOJ recruiting efforts inside churches https://t.co/6Hvj3fwSwB
— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 11, 2023
The DOJ, Garland insisted, “protects all religions, all ideologies. It does not have any bias against any religion of any kind.” Even so, they infiltrated the Catholics.
As Hawley writes in today’s letter, they had extensive back in forth over that in the senate hearing. “I went on to ask you whether the Department was ‘cultivating sources and spies in Latin mass parishes and other Catholic parishes around the country.‘ And again, your response could not have been clearer: ‘No, the Justice Department does not do that. It does not do investigations based on religion.‘” He lied.
“Finally, I asked you ‘how many informants do you have in Catholic churches across America?‘ You denied the claim a third time: ‘I don’t know, and I don’t believe we have any informants aimed at Catholic churches.‘ All of this was false, as recent investigative findings by the House Judiciary Committee show.”
Confess now
The time to confess is now, Hawley warned Garland. More blanket denial lies are going to be turned into criminal charges. The official is to “provide answers ‘immediately‘ on how many agents DOJ would ‘work with or otherwise employ’ at both Catholic parishes and ‘in religious organizations more broadly.’”
He can ignore the polite Senate request. He can also fight the subpoena which will come next. There will be a huge pile of subpoenas to fight and it’s not certain that they can be beaten. Not this time around.
Hawley also is demanding to know, “Within which, and how many, FBI field offices was guidance related to the infiltration of traditionalist Catholic parishes distributed?” Inquiring minds in the senate want to know the same things house investigators are probing. The House Judiciary Committee just put Christopher Wray on a spot.
Merrick Garland told me – under oath – the FBI was not targeting Catholic parishes. That appears to have been a lie. I want the truth 👇 pic.twitter.com/HE8ncapeYz
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) April 11, 2023
Jim Jordan sent him a formal subpoena on Monday, noting his committee already has “limited information produced by the FBI to the Committee” that shows “the FBI relied on at least one undercover agent” and “proposed that its agents engage in outreach to Catholic parishes to develop sources among the clergy and church leadership to inform on Americans practicing their faith.”
Admitting to the one proves Merrick Garland lied to the Senate. They want to know what else he’s been lying about. Hawley is steamed.
“At this point, it is altogether unclear how many other FBI field offices received these directives. The potential scale of this anti-Catholic program is extremely concerning,” Hawley wrote. “Everyone involved with this chilling surveillance campaign must face accountability.“
