FBI Whistleblower Reveals FBI Used SPLC Hate Group to Track “Hate Groups”

FBI Whistleblower Reveals FBI Used SPLC Hate Group to Track “Hate Groups”

By Mark Schwendau

The FBI is, once again, finding itself in the hot seat as being politically biased as well as lazy. Former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent, now whistleblower Kyle Seraphin, brought an 8-page document to light. That document titled, “Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities,” bears FBI markings reading “UNCLASSIFIED/FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY” and “FBI INTERNAL USE ONLY — DO NOT DISSEMINATE EXTERNALLY.”

The FBI’s Richmond office apparently cited the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in an intelligence bulletin, violating longstanding FBI guidelines on the SPLC’s credibility. Many have asserted over the years that that organization is nothing more than a communist front organization as it seemingly attacks those who are against some of the communist goals, as we reported here.

Seraphin published the document on UncoverDC.com Wednesday. He said, “We got briefings that SPLC was not legitimate when I was at Quantico.” Seraphin served six years at the FBI as a special agent before getting indefinitely suspended without pay in June 2022; he told The Daily Signal in a phone interview Wednesday.

“In making this assessment, FBI Richmond relied on the key assumption that [racially or ethnically motivated extremists] will continue to find [radical-traditionalist Catholic or RTC] ideology attractive and will continue to attempt to connect with RTC adherents, both virtually via social media and in-person at places of worship,” the leaked document states.

The document claims, “RTCs are typically categorized by the rejection of the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II) as a valid church council; disdain for most of the popes elected since Vatican II, particularly Pope Francis and Pope John Paul II; and frequent adherence to anti-Semtic, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ, and white supremacist ideology. Radical-traditionalist Catholics compose a small minority of overall Roman Catholic adherents and are separate and distinct from ‘traditionalist Catholics’ preferring the Traditional Latin Mass and pre-Vatican II teachings and traditions, without the more extremist ideological beliefs and violent rhetoric.”

That FBI Richmond document doesn’t hide its sourcing for information about “radical-traditionalist Catholics.” In a “perspective” note, the document states, “As of 2021, the Southern Poverty Law Center identified nine RTC hate groups operating in the United States.”

We found an interactive map on their website here.

The leaked document is dated Jan. 23, 2023. It includes an appendix with a complete list of organizations the SPLC labels “radical traditional Catholic hate groups,” without any note that the SPLC’s “hate group” accusations have faced both criticism and issues of credibility.

The SPLC fired one of its co-founders amid a racial discrimination and sexual harassment scandal in 2019. A former SPLC staffer claimed that the organization’s accusations of “hate” are a “cynical fundraising scam” aimed at “bilking northern liberals.” Ever since then, people across the political spectrum have voiced concern and opposition at the organization’s “hate group” smears.

Back in 2012, a terrorist targeted the Family Research Council’s headquarters in D.C., entering the lobby with a semiautomatic pistol, shooting and wounding a guard. The captured terrorist told the FBI he found the conservative organization on the SPLC’s “hate map” and intended to kill everyone in the building. That man pled guilty to committing an act of terror and received a 25-year prison sentence. The SPLC condemned the attack but has refused to remove the Family Research Council from its “hate map” ever since.

George Hill, whose 11 years at the bureau included a stint as a supervisory intelligence analyst, said he would call the report “poorly sourced from sources who use unsubstantiated data to draw their own conclusions and not in compliance with FBI publication guidelines.” Hill also reported the Directorate of Intelligence released guidelines that bars analysts from relying on the SPLC. “They would have had to either change the guidelines since I left that you can now use the SPLC or the author and their supervisor who approved the final document knowingly violated the Directorate of Intelligence Guidelines,” he said.

Seraphin told The Daily Signal that such a bias “feels predictable at this point,” coming after “the FBI’s attacks on pro-life groups, the way that they were doing enforcement of the FACE Act in the latter half of 2022.” He cited numerous unsolved cases of fire bombings and vandalism at crisis pregnancy centers since the leak of the Supreme Court’s draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade last year.

The former FBI agent said that trend, along with this report, “shows an ideological bent” that is “pervasive at this point.”

Copyright © 2022 by Mark S. Schwendau

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Mark S. Schwendau is a retired technology professor who has always had a sideline in news-editorial writing where his byline has been, “Bringing little known news to people who simply want to know the truth.”  He classifies himself as a Christian conservative who God cast to be a realist.  Mark is an award-winning educator who has published seven books and numerous peer-reviewed trade journal articles, some of which can be found online.  His father was a fireman/paramedic, while his mother was a registered nurse.  He holds multiple degrees in technology education, industrial management, OSHA Safety, and Driver’s Education.  His website is www.IDrawIWrite.Tech.

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