Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche disclosed Saturday that a 565-page DOJ report details what investigators characterize as a "systematic culture" of anti-Christian bias spanning multiple federal agencies during the Biden presidency. The report, published Thursday by a Justice Department task force, argues the administration pursued policies that undermined religious liberty protections.
Among the specific allegations, the report claims the FBI monitored Catholic priests and the Internal Revenue Service denied tax-exempt status to a Christian organization based on its religious teachings. Blanche told Fox News that the investigation found evidence of bias extending far beyond isolated incidents. "It was actually a systematic culture issue at the Department of Justice to target Christians, to target people based upon their religious beliefs," Blanche stated.
The report contends that President Biden's administration used regulatory mechanisms to circumvent statutory protections for religious Americans. "President Biden pushed policies to eliminate statutory protections for religious Americans that interfered with his policy goals," the DOJ report stated. "Although he failed to change federal law, under his direction, federal agencies used policy and regulatory means to accomplish the same goals."
The investigation identified additional patterns of conduct. The report alleges the administration labeled parental concerns raised at school board meetings as "threats" and dismissed federal workers' religious objections to vaccine mandates as "insincere" or "not genuinely religious." It also claims the Civil Rights Division prioritized other constituencies over Christians and published materials suggesting Christians could not experience religious discrimination.
The task force was established through President Trump's executive order titled "Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias," which directed the government to "immediately halt all forms of anti-Christian targeting and discrimination within the federal government." Blanche described the report's findings as "extraordinarily disappointing" but stated that the current administration is working to address what he characterized as bias within the DOJ.
Former Attorney General Merrick Garland faced questions about the report's accusations during his tenure. When confronted by Republican lawmakers over whether DOJ actions disadvantaged Christians, Garland responded emotionally, referencing his family's history of fleeing religious persecution in Europe.
