In a recently unearthed video, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) slammed a former FBI agent in a dramatic Senate hearing. During his demolition, Hawley asked the hapless FBI agent about the Biden administration’s obvious anti-Christian bias and the weaponization of federal law enforcement against pro-life groups
For context, the controversy stemmed from a leaked internal memo from the FBI’s Richmond Field Office, which claimed a link between catholics and racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists. The same document proposed monitoring these communities and developing a network of informants.
In any case, Sen. Hawley began his December 5, 2023, hearing by peppering the hapless FBI agent with questions. After the agent tried to dodge a question by citing “Section 1.7 of the justice manual,” Hawley fired back, saying, “The code Judicial Conduct requires integrity and independence, and the judiciary requires judicial officers to act with integrity. [It’s] not to get out of jail free card…You’re under oath for a committee who’s considering you for a lifetime appointment at the federal bench.”
Exasperated, the Missouri senator pivoted to the FBI’s handling of the Hunter Biden Laptop case. He asked, “I’m going to try one last time. Did you participate in any meetings during your time as deputy chief of staff or acting Chief of Staff related to the … laptop? Yes or No.”
When the agent again refused to answer, Hawley went ballistic. He said, “Oh, you are permitted to answer. You don’t want to answer because it would be inconvenient for you. And I have to tell you, I find that extremely troubling. Mr. Long is extremely troubled. Not a good start. Let’s see if we can do better on a different topic.”
Building his case against Agent Long, the Republican asked, “While you were at the Department of Justice or at, sorry, the FBI in your capacity as Deputy Chief of Staff and executive staff. Do you ever observe FBI resources being used to monitor pro-life groups or pro-life individuals?… What about Catholic parishes or Catholic groups?”
Continuing after Long deflected again, Hawley laid out the details of the scandal. He explained, “In the memo, the FBI field office in Richmond recommends infiltrating Catholic parishes that it deems traditional association of the Latin Mass, recruiting FBI informants within those parishes to monitor speech within the parishes.”
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Watch the contentious hearing here:
Hammering away at the hapless FBI agent, Sen. Hawley fired off more questions. He asked, “The House Research Committee has later learned this is in a letter dated April 10, 2023, that the FBI relied on at least one undercover agent to produce its analysis in this memo, and the FBI has proposed its agents engage in outreach to Catholic parishes to build sources among the clergy. Did any of this occur while you were at the FBI? ”
Concluding his ruthless demolition after another non-answer, Senator Josh Hawley said, “I cannot believe your answers. I can’t believe that any … anybody who would come before this committee would look at this and look at what they have tried to do. I just listened to the Attorney General for heaven’s sake, and would not say it’s grossly inappropriate. This should never happen. I’m absolutely stunned by this, and for that reason, among others, I cannot support your nomination. ”
Featured image from embedded video