House Oversight Committee Republicans want to know what Attorney General Merrick Garland is planning on doing to combat the recent cyberattacks against Christian-based websites and donation portals.

Top House Republicans James Comer (R-Kentucky) and Michael Cloud (R-Texas) have spearheaded an effort to request the Department of Justice (DOJ) to provide a briefing on what efforts are currently underway to enforce federal law related to politically-motivated cyberattacks apparently intended to chill the speech of religious and conservative Americans.

The Republicans members also want to know what efforts the DOJ is taking to prevent such attacks from happening in the future. 

We are concerned about recent cyberattacks against Christian websites and charitable donation portals carried out due to their support of conservative values and causes. Direct attacks against religious people deserve no place in our society and undermine the ability of citizens to express their viewpoints without fear of harmful retribution. We write to inquire into the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) efforts to enforce federal law related to these politically-motivated cyberattacks intended to chill the speech of religious and conservative Americans, as well as efforts to prevent them from happening in the future.

Republican lawmakers

Since the leak of the Dobbs Supreme Court decision that determined abortion is a matter to be regulated at the state level; pro-life organizations, crisis pregnancy centers and Christian organizations increasingly have been targeted by radical groups and hackers.

Hackers recently infiltrated websites connected to Christian organizations supporting the pro-life movement; stealing, and then leaking, vast quantities of data maintained by those organizations.

Republican lawmakers allege that Oversight Committee Democrats have ignored attacks on crisis pregnancy centers, and continue to perpetuate false and misleading information to push for unrestrained access to abortion.  

“The Department of Justice must investigate these attacks, which are likely unlawful and clearly intended to chill the right of our citizens to peacefully express their opinions on matters of public importance as well as donations to conservative or religious organizations. Citizens in this country should be free to exercise their rights without fear of malicious cyberattacks,” write the lawmakers.

Read letter sent to Attorney General Garland here and below:

The Honorable Merrick B. Garland Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice , Washington, DC 20530

Dear Attorney General Garland:

September 28, 2022

We are concerned about recent cyberattacks against Christian websites and charitable donation portals carried out due to their support of conservative values and causes. Direct attacks against religious people deserve no place in our society and undermine the ability of citizens to express their viewpoints without fear of harmful retribution. We write to inquire into the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) efforts to enforce federal law related to these politically- motivated cyberattacks intended to chill the speech of religious and conservative Americans, as well as efforts to prevent them from happening in the future.

Hackers recently infiltrated websites connected to Christian organizations supporting the pro-life movement, stealing and then leaking vast quantities of data maintained by those organizations.1 The hackers mocked the rule of law and a conservative religious organization, taunting, “[w]e decided to bring about some much needed radical transparency by taking it upon ourselves to make your list of donors public.”2 That hack follows on the heels of another attributed to the hacking group “Anonymous,” which commandeered the website of the Texas Republican Party because of its pro-life support.3 A self-described “cyberterrorist” also took credit in February for hacking the Christian fundraising website GiveSendGo after its platform was used by Canadian truckers protesting COVID-19 related restrictions.4

1 AJ Vicens, Hackers leak huge cache of data from evangelical organization that supported Dobbs decision, CYBERSCOOP, July 22, 2022.
2 Id.
3 Paul Flahive, Texas GOP website hacked by activists protesting abortion law, TEXAS PUBLIC RADIO, Sept. 11, 2021.

4 Ryan King, Famous ‘cyberterrorist’ goes on TikTok to take credit for GiveSendGo hack, WASHINGTON EXAMINER, Feb. 16, 2022.

Honorable Merrick B. Garland September 28, 2022
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The Department of Justice must investigate these attacks, which are likely unlawful5 and clearly intended to chill the right of our citizens to peacefully express their opinions on matters of public importance as well as donations to conservative or religious organizations. Citizens in this country should be free to exercise their rights without fear of malicious cyberattacks.

To understand what the Department of Justice is doing to address politically-motivated cyberattacks intended to silence supporters of conservative causes, please provide a briefing to the Committee no later than October 5, 2022.

To make arrangements to schedule the briefing or ask any related follow-up questions, please contact Committee on Oversight and Reform Republican staff at (202) 225-5074. The Committee on Oversight and Reform is the principal oversight Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X. Thank you in advance for your cooperation with this inquiry.

Sincerely,

Michael Cloud
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy

Jody Hice
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Government Operations

Nancy Mace
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

5 See e.g. 18 U.S.C. § 1030.

James Comer
Ranking Member
Committee on Oversight and Reform

Glenn Grothman
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on National Security

Yvette Herrell
Ranking Member Subcommittee on Environment

Honorable Merrick B. Garland September 28, 2022

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Bob Gibbs
Member of Congress

Ralph Norman
Member of Congress

Fred Keller
Member of Congress

Jake LaTurner
Member of Congress

cc: The Honorable Carolyn Maloney, Chairwoman Committee on Oversight and Reform

The Honorable Raja Krishnamoorthi, Chairman Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy

The Honorable Gerald E. Connolly, Chairman Subcommittee on Government Operations

The Honorable Stephen F. Lynch, Chairman Subcommittee on National Security

The Honorable Ro Khanna, Chairman Subcommittee on Environment

The Honorable Jamie Raskin, Chairman Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

Clay Higgins
Member of Congress

Pete Sessions
Member of Congress

Andy Biggs
Member of Congress