Scrutinizing the FBI's Mormon Cohort

Charlie Kirk's assassination in Utah should prompt an examination of the large number of Mormons in the Bureau, their leadership, and their attachments.

Back in 2002 I briefly lived in Arlington, Virginia and dated a woman who worked for the FBI. She wasn’t at liberty to tell me about her work in Washington D.C., but one evening over dinner she mentioned in passing that there was a prodigious number of Mormons who worked for the Bureau. This struck me as intriguing, so I did a bit of research and discovered that FBI recruitment does indeed seem to favor Mormons. I thought this a surprising twist of history, given the great conflicts between the U.S. government and the Mormons in the 19th century due to their then practice of polygamy.

According to a 2015 report in Atlas Obscura:

But there’s at least one place in American society where Mormons have found an unusual degree of acceptance—in agencies like the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and the CIA, which see Mormons as particularly desirable recruits and have a reputation for hiring a disproportionate number of people who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

While this comes as a surprise to most people, in Washington and particularly among people who work with or report on intelligence and law enforcement, it’s common knowledge. And occasionally it leaks into popular culture: In his 2009 memoir Agent Bishop, Mike McPheters describes his years doubling as an FBI agent and Mormon bishop—a community leadership position he inherited from another FBI agent. . . .

The disproportionate number of Mormons is usually chalked up to three factors: Mormon people often have strong foreign language skills, from missions overseas; a relatively easy time getting security clearances, given their abstention from drugs and alcohol; and a willingness to serve.

The article (worth reading in full) gives an interesting account of how a perception has arisen that the FBI contains a cohort sometimes referred to as the “Mormon Mafia.”

In recent years, grave concerns have arisen about the FBI’s loyalties and attachments. Given that Charlie Kirk was assassinated in Utah, I hope that Kash Patel and Dan Bongino are taking a hard look at the doctrines and attachments of the investigators working at the Salt Lake City office.

I write this not to impugn Mormons, who strike me as some of the most honest and honorable people in the country. However, while religious faith is typically supportive of honesty and fidelity, allegiance to religious doctrine may bring one into conflict with the U.S. Constitution’s separation of church and state. The supreme loyalty of FBI agents should be the U.S. Constitution, and not a religious doctrine or leader.

Did Charlie Kirk somehow come into conflict with Mormon doctrines or attachments? I would like to emphasize that I am NOT claiming that he did; I am merely proposing that this possibility be thoroughly investigated.