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“A Slap in the Face” — Dan Bongino Called Out After Retweeting Video of FBI Official Stanley Meador, Who Remains Employed Despite Targeting Catholics as ‘Radical-Traditionalists’ Linked to ‘White Supremacy’

April 15, 2025

Stanley Meador (Screenshot: @FBIRichmond / X)

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino is under fire after retweeting a video of FBI official Stanley Meador, a man still employed by the bureau despite being at the center of a scandal involving the profiling of traditionalist Catholics as potential domestic extremists and potential white supremacist recruits.

Stanley Meador is the Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the FBI’s Richmond Field Office, who oversaw the creation of a controversial internal FBI memorandum that labeled certain “radical-traditionalist Catholics” as potential domestic terrorism threats.

The video, originally posted by the FBI’s Richmond Field Office, shows Meador addressing the “764” group, a violent online network known for coercing children into self-harm, suicide, and animal cruelty, often using cybercriminal tactics like doxxing and fake Telegram chats to target vulnerable minors, as noted in a 2024 CyberScoop report.

Dan Bongino’s official X account shared this video via retweet.

WATCH:

“This is Stanley Meador. He was responsible for the FBI’s Richmond office when they approved an intel product suggesting that Traditional Latin Mass Catholics were likely recruits for White Supremacy,” former FBI agent turned whistleblower Kyle Seraphin wrote on X.

“Seeing [Bongino] promote him is a slap in the face. Cutesy Time Continues,” he added.

More from Kyle Seraphin:

In February 2023, the Committee on the Judiciary and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government launched its investigation after whistleblower Kyle Seraphin exposed the Richmond memorandum within the FBI’s internal systems.

The leaked memo suggested that, to infiltrate Catholic parishes, FBI agents could use clergy and parish staff as “tripwires” and monitor online communities associated with the Traditional Latin Mass.

It relied on sources like the Southern Poverty Law Center, Salon, and The Atlantic, and included input from other FBI field offices, including Portland and Los Angeles.

The House Judiciary Committee’s December 2023 report revealed that the FBI had interviewed a priest and a choir director in Richmond as part of the memo’s development.

FBI Director Christopher Wray has called the memo “appalling” and stated that it was retracted promptly upon discovery.

According to the Washington Examiner, Meador testified before Congress in August 2023 for several hours in a behind-closed-doors interview, acknowledging his role in retracting the memo and meeting with Catholic leaders to address the fallout.

However, during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in December 2023, Senator Josh Hawley criticized the FBI for not terminating any personnel involved.

According to the Committee on the Judiciary and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government:

From witness testimony and FBI internal documents, the Committee and Select Subcommittee have learned that there were errors at every step of the drafting, review, approval, and removal process of the memorandum. For example:

  • The documents received pursuant to the Committee’s subpoena show there was no legitimate basis for the memorandum to insert federal law enforcement into Catholic houses of worship.
  • The basis for the Richmond memorandum relied on a single investigation in the Richmond Field Office’s area of responsibility in which the subject “self-described” as a “radical-traditionalist Catholic” (RTC). However, FBI employees could not define the meaning of an RTC when preparing, editing, or reviewing the memorandum. Even so, this single investigation became the basis for an FBI-wide memorandum warning about the dangers of “radical” Catholics.
  • Whistleblower disclosures reveal that the FBI interviewed a priest and choir director affiliated with a Catholic church in Richmond, Virginia while preparing the memorandum to inform on the parishioner under investigation.
  • In addition to the investigation in Virginia, FBI Richmond relied on reporting from other field offices across the country, including FBI Los Angeles, FBI Milwaukee, and FBI Portland in making its assessment.
  • The two FBI employees who co-authored the memorandum later told FBI internal investigators that they knew the sources cited in the memorandum had a political bias—sources including the Southern Poverty Law Center, Salon, and The Atlantic.
  • The documents received pursuant to the Committee’s subpoena show that the FBI singled out Americans who are pro-life, pro-family, and support the biological basis for sex and gender distinction as potential domestic terrorists. The memorandum recognized “the run-up to the next general election cycle” as a key time frame and cited the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision that overturned Roe v. Wade as a flash point.
  • Without considerable criticism in the wake of the disclosure of the memorandum, the document would have remained in an FBI-wide system. At the time of the memorandum’s disclosure, FBI officials were discussing turning the memorandum into an external, public-facing document highlighting the threats of “radical” Catholics. Most concerning, FBI Richmond still desires to convey this information to other field offices about “radical-traditionalist Catholics.”
  • FBI Richmond’s senior leadership saw the memorandum as an opportunity to insert federal law enforcement into places of worship and support outreach efforts to the Diocese of Richmond and other Catholic parishes.
  • Following public criticism about the memorandum, FBI Richmond’s Special Agent in Charge Stanley Meador met with members of the clergy, including the Most Reverend Barry Knestout, Bishop of the Diocese of Richmond, and a Cardinal of the Catholic Church to mend the FBI’s relationship with the Catholic community.
  • Whistleblower disclosures to the Committee further reveal that the memorandum was accessible to other field offices across the country. However, the FBI still has no idea how many FBI employees accessed the memorandum before its removal and cannot confirm whether any outreach occurred to Catholic parishes as a result of the memorandum.

This revelation comes after FBI Director Kash Patel reportedly appointed Steven Jensen to lead the coveted FBI Washington Field Office.

According to the New York Times, Jensen “played a key role in responding to the attack on the Capitol” on January 6th.

Read more:

FBI Director Kash Patel Names Domestic Terrorism Section Chief Steven Jensen to Run Washington FBI Field Office

The post “A Slap in the Face” — Dan Bongino Called Out After Retweeting Video of FBI Official Stanley Meador, Who Remains Employed Despite Targeting Catholics as ‘Radical-Traditionalists’ Linked to ‘White Supremacy’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.