US Prosecutors’ Texts on Nuns Draw Scrutiny

Text messages released by the Senate Judiciary Committee appear to show two former Justice Department prosecutors discussing the possible prosecution of nuns who attended Donald Trump’s Stop the Steal rally on 6 January 2021.

The messages, first reported by The Daily Wire, were exchanged by Joseph Cooney and Molly Gaston in February 2021 as they reviewed media coverage of the rally. Gaston wrote that she wanted a “special assignment” to find and prosecute them, while Cooney replied that he would “like to prosecute any nun who still wears the head habit”.

The records were released by Senator Chuck Grassley, who said they were obtained through legally protected whistleblower disclosures. Grassley called the exchange evidence of possible bias against religious believers.

The women pictured do not appear to have been prosecuted, and available images cited by EWTN do not show them entering restricted areas or the US Capitol.

Cooney later worked on investigations connected to Special Counsel Jack Smith and has defended his work on cases linked to the 6 January Capitol riot.

(mja)