Governor-elect taps FBI agent linked to anti-Catholic memo as Virginia’s next safety chief
Caroline MolloyVirginia Democratic Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger has nominated Stanley Meador — who led the FBI’s Richmond Field Office when it produced its controversial 2023 memo targeting traditional Catholics — to serve as the commonwealth’s next Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security.
As special agent in charge of the Richmond office, Meador oversaw the division that drafted and circulated the internal memo linking “radical-traditionalist Catholics” with “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism.”
CatholicVote National Political Director Logan Church condemned the nomination as deeply troubling.
“It was bad enough when we learned the FBI was surveilling and targeting Catholics simply for living their faith. But now the official who oversaw that disgraceful operation is being promoted,” Church said. “This is not accountability, it’s an endorsement. It tells every Catholic in America that violating our civil liberties isn’t a problem, it’s a pathway to advancement. That is outrageous, and it cannot go unanswered.”
The eight-page document, which the FBI later redacted, proposed infiltrating Catholic parishes as a form of “threat mitigation,” according to a House Judiciary Committee report. As CatholicVote reported, the memo reached more than 1,000 FBI personnel nationwide before it ever became public.
The memo also drew on designations from the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which had labeled “‘radical traditionalist Catholics’ as a hate group, placing them on its ‘hate list’ alongside the likes of the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, and ‘racist skinheads,’” according to a 2023 Daily Signal report cited by CatholicVote.
After the memo triggered widespread public outrage, Meador met with Virginia clergy, including Bishop Barry Knestout of Richmond, to address the fallout and attempt to repair relations with the Catholic community, CatholicVote previously reported.
In June 2025, the FBI placed Meador on administrative leave, according to a New York Times report that noted his role leading the office where the memo originated.
Spanberger, a Democrat who won the governorship in November, highlighted Meador’s long career in federal law enforcement in her Dec. 4 nomination announcement.
“I know Mr. Meador’s decades of service to our country and our Commonwealth will bring the expertise necessary to protect our citizens, support the brave men and women of law enforcement,” she said, “and make sure Virginia is a place where every Virginian can safely thrive — no matter their zip code.”
