A now-retracted memo from the FBI targeting traditional Catholics is an “affront” to the First Amendment, Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio told WMAL talk show host Vince Coglianese, who also serves as editorial director of the Daily Caller.

“The Richmond field office put together a memorandum that that two analysts signed off on and the chief division counsel, the top lawyer in the Richmond field office, signed off on and that memorandum that we are going to look to develop sources within churches, to develop informants within Catholic parishes,” Jordan told Coglianese. (RELATED: GOP Rep Rips FBI Over ‘Utter Disregard’ For Catholics’ ‘Fundamental Constitutional Freedoms’)

The memo from the Richmond FBI field office, published in late January, targeted Catholics who rejected the reforms from the Second Vatican Council, as being susceptible to “anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ and white supremacist ideology,” citing the Southern Poverty Law Center.

LISTEN:

“Now think about that, you have folks in the church, potentially even develop sources among clergy, who you’re gonna go to talk to about the deepest concerns you have about your life,” Jordan, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee and that committee’s Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, continued. “This is such an affront to First Amendment freedom of religion, it is so wrong.”

Jordan of Ohio revealed earlier Monday that the FBI used an undercover employee to recruit sources in Richmond-area Catholic churches.

“That’s why the FBI pulled this memorandum we’re investigating… they said this was wrong, but I don’t know if they would have said that, but for the brave whistleblowers who came forward,” Jordan said, after noting the FBI said it pulled the memorandum.

The FBI told the Daily Caller that its headquarters took steps to pull the memo out of circulation upon learning about it, saying it did not meet the agency’s “exacting standards.”

“If you’re a pro-life Catholic, you’re pro-life Christian person out there, that’s who they were targeting, you can see it because some of the footnotes talk about the Dobbs decision,” Jordan said.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.