CV NEWS FEED // Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, on Tuesday said he would propose a resolution to condemn calls to defund the Department of Justice and the FBI, but Sen. Marco Rubio, R-FL, fired back by confronting the agencies’ recent actions against America’s Catholics.

Schumer’s resolution “will state that the Senate ‘recognizes and appreciates the dedication and devotion demonstrated by the men and women of Federal law enforcement agencies who keep the communities of the United States and the United States safe’” and reject “‘partisan attempts by former President Donald J. Trump and his allies to degrade public trust in federal law enforcement agencies for attempted political or legal benefit,’” The Epoch Times reported.

“Schumer planning a vote on a Senate resolution condemning calls to ‘defund’ the DOJ & FBI,” tweeted Sen. Marco Rubio, a Catholic, in response to Schumer’s letter:

I will attempt to amend it by adding language that condemns something that actually happened, DOJ & FBI trying to infiltrate Catholic parishes & cultivate “sources” inside Catholic Churches.

Schumer’s move comes after former President Trump posted on social media last week that the DOJ and FBI should be defunded “until they come to their senses.” Trump argued that Democrats “have totally weaponized law enforcement in our country.”

Since Trump made that statement, the House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government announced that the FBI had worked to infiltrate and cultivate “sources” in Catholic parishes.

As CatholicVote reported:

“Based on the limited information produced by the FBI to the Committee, we now know that the FBI relied on at least one undercover agent to produce its analysis,” wrote Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-OH, in a Monday letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray. The FBI further “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.”

Jordan said the “shocking” new information “reinforces our need for all responsive documents, and the Committee is issuing a subpoena to you to compel your full cooperation.”

According to the limited documentation the FBI released to Congress, the FBI had sought to use Catholic churches as “new avenues for tripwire and source development,” including at “mainline Catholic parishes” and among “local diocesan leadership.”

The Agency also aimed to “sensitize” Catholic churchgoers “to the warning signs of radicalization,” and “enlist their assistance to serve as suspicious activity tripwires.”

In addition to the scandal involving the infiltration of Catholic parishes, the FBI and DOJ have also been criticized for what Republicans call the unequal prosecution of pro-life activists – many of whom are Catholics – as opposed to pro-abortion radicals.

In 2022, the DOJ brought felony charges against over two dozen pro-life Americans under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, a federal law forbidding obstructions and disturbances on the properties of abortion facilities, other healthcare centers, or houses of worship. During the same year, not one pro-abortion activist faced similar charges – despite over 200 attacks on churches or pro-life groups nationwide.

CatholicVote Communications Director Joshua Mercer said he was grateful for Rubio’s effort to stand up for Catholics. “No one is going to shut down these federal law enforcement agencies,” Mercer said, “and Schumer knows that’s not what this is about. This is about Democratic leadership shaming and silencing any rhetoric that questions the out-of-control, partisan leadership of the FBI and DOJ.”

And it is no coincidence, Mercer said, that Schumer is introducing this bill just when the FBI and DOJ face increasing scrutiny for their “targeting” of Catholics and other pro-life Americans. “I’m glad Rubio’s keeping his eye on the ball. Catholics want to know what their government is doing. We deserve answers from Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Chris Wray right now.

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