Text messages released by the Senate Judiciary Committee show two former federal prosecutors discussing their desires to prosecute nuns during their investigation of the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
Joseph Cooney and Molly Gaston, career prosecutors at the Justice Department rather than political appointees, played roles in prosecuting President Donald Trump during former President Joe Biden’s administration. The two were fired shortly after Trump became president for the second time and are legal partners Gaston & Cooney PLLC. Connie is running for congress In Virginia.
When sending messages on government-issued devices, Gaston wrote about an image A quote from Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally, which took place before the January 6 attack, was published by The New York Times, stating: “I saw the nuns near the oath takers in one of the NYT photos for the first time.”
Cooney said, “I know!” To which Gaston replied: “I would like to take special charge of finding them and prosecuting them.”
Cooney, who works in the Justice Department’s public integrity section, responded to his comments about prosecuting women by saying, “I’m with you” and adding: “Although I would like to prosecute any nun who still keeps the habit of being in the head.” Gaston, who was the lead prosecutor in the special counsel’s related Jan. 6 case involving allegations of efforts to overturn the 2020 election, responded to the message with “Hahaha.”
The photo shows three women wearing traditional habits standing on the National Mall near the stage for the rally and does not show them trying to break through restricted areas or enter the US Capitol. The women appear to be associated with a convent that is not in communion with the Roman Catholic Church and do not have canonical status with the Diocese of Lansing, Michigan, where they are located.
one more photo The photo of women at the rally published by The Conversation does not show anyone trying to enter restricted areas or the Capitol. EWTN News could not reach the women in the photos.
Women adopting traditional habits participate in the “Stop the Steal” rally on January 6, 2021. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Gregory Starrett
The text messages also show Gaston saying “people are crazy” because they want the priest to deny Biden communion. The two also discussed COVID-19-era restrictions on Mass, with Gaston saying she “has been really bad about video Mass” and Connie saying that “video Mass is really hard.”
Almost all Catholic sisters and nuns adopted the habit before the Second Vatican Council, although since then the practice often depends on the religious community to which the person belongs or may depend on personal preference.
Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles Explain on their website That habit is “economical, simple, humble and above all a sign, a symbol of God and His love for each of us.”
“We have a habit of silently calling out to people we meet or pass on the street, in a store, even on the beach,” the website states. “It says, ‘Look up; you were born for great things.’ It says, ‘Hold on, this too shall pass, and God will always guide you in the path you need to take.’ It says, ‘I am a symbol, a reminder of God’s presence in our world. You can’t really see him, but when you see me, you miss him.”
Dominican Sisters of Mary Immaculate Province Check out their website that their habit is “a symbol of our devotion to God and a witness to poverty.”
It states, “We have a white tunic, a black belt with a rosary, a white scapular, a veil and cuppa.” “Symbolically, black reminds us that we have been called from the death valley of sin to a life of profound grace in Christ (white). The visible habit represents simplicity of life, innocence, sacrifice, penance and mortification, the hidden life in Christ.”
‘I was surprised’
EWTN News obtained copies of the text exchange, which was first reported The Daily WireFrom the office of Senator Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. EWTN News contacted Cooney’s campaign and the law firm, where both are partners, requesting comment and did not receive a response.
The messages were provided to Grassley’s office by the Justice Department in connection with the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation into federal efforts to prosecute Trump during Biden’s presidency.
“Freedom of religion is a cherished First Amendment right enshrined in our Constitution by the Founding Fathers,” Judiciary Committee Chairman Grassley said in a statement to EWTN News.
He said, “I was horrified, but sadly not surprised, by the discovery of evidence of Biden DOJ prosecutors threatening to use the power of the federal justice system to target people of faith.” “Time and again, my monitoring has shown the Biden Justice Department, including these prosecutors who went on to pursue the Arctic Frost investigation of Jack Smith, shown complete disregard for equal justice.”
About 1,600 people were prosecuted for a variety of crimes related to the breach of the US Capitol on January 6, including unlawful entry, assault, destruction of property, obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy, and so on. President Trump later granted pardons to about 1,500 of them.
It does not appear that the women photographed faced prosecution, although some Catholic sisters have defended federal encroachment into their religious activities in recent years.
Most famously, the Little Sisters of the Poor won a case in the US Supreme Court in 2020 after a nine-year-long battle against the order to cover contraception in their insurance plans, per the rules of the Affordable Care Act. Despite that victory, the sisters are still fighting federal contraceptive regulations in court.
In New York, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, who care for the terminally ill, faced a warning from the state health department for “refusing to assign a room to another resident in accordance with the resident’s gender identity.” They are also fighting against the rules in court.
On April 30, Trump’s DOJ published a report on the “anti-Christian bias” it alleged plagued the federal government under Biden’s presidency. It documents rules and regulations that harm religious freedom related to abortion, contraception, and gender policies. It accuses the government of weaponizing attacks against Christians, including pro-life protesters.
