Republicans are demanding the Trump administration investigate certain Russian Orthodox churches in the United States, claiming they may be compromised by Russian intelligence — but members of an Orthodox delegation pushed back against those assertions to the Daily Caller.
Three Republicans, led by South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson, requested that the Department of Justice (DOJ) initiate a review and consider an investigation into whether Russia has sought to “recruit, leverage, influence, or otherwise compromise the independence” of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), according to a Thursday letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi obtained by the Caller.
The letter asks the DOJ to look into whether the New York-based ROCOR maintains ties to Russia or its intelligence services through the Moscow Patriarchate.
“Such an inquiry should assess potential espionage activity, coercive activity, recruitment of agents, and other national security risks arising from Russian state exploitation of religious organizations connected to the Moscow Patriarchate,” the letter stated. (RELATED: Trump’s Religious Freedom Nominee Left In Limbo As Persecution Rages Worldwide)
The letter claims the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, previously served as an officer of the KGB and now provides “explicit theological justification for Russia’s war against Ukraine, portraying it as a ‘holy struggle’ against the West.”
In this pool photograph distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (L) and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill (R) visit the Orthodox Rus’ exhibition dedicated to the traditions of volunteering and mutual aid in Russia on the National Unity Day in Moscow on November 4, 2024. (Photo by VYACHESLAV PROKOFYEV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
During an August visit to Ukraine, state officials and national leaders from across Ukraine’s Christian denominations told the Caller their congregants and clergy were actively being persecuted by occupying Russian forces in Crimea. They pointed to allegations of murder, arrests and the destruction of places of worship.
These leaders agreed that the ROC and Kirill played a key role in pushing for the war and Russia’s persecution of Ukrainian Christians.
The U.S. State Department designated Russia as a “Country of Particular Concern” in 2022 under the Religious Freedom Act. Trump recently gave this designation to Nigeria over the mass murder of thousands of Christians by radical Islamist forces.
The letter references reports documenting ROCOR-affiliated clergy participating in or condoning persecution of Christians within the occupied Ukrainian territories.
The letter comes as a response to Wilson’s discovery that leaders within the ROCOR and other Orthodox churches engaged in “lobbying efforts claiming to represent interests of Ukrainian Christians.”
Wilson shared a screenshot on X of an email calling on Orthodox Christians to join the delegates on Capitol Hill in support of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). The email claimed the UOC is “facing increasing pressure and persecution in Ukraine.”
The UOC has historically been affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate, while the larger Orthodox Church of Ukraine was established more recently as a separate Orthodox church independent of Russian influence.
The Russian Orthodox Church is not a separate religious organization but an extension of the Russian state. Evangelizing is illegal in Russia and Christians are targeted and killed in Ukraine. Members should not entertain this intelligence operation.
https://t.co/Ma9O1FTFlM pic.twitter.com/FwArmB6MfI
— Joe Wilson (@RepJoeWilson) November 17, 2025
The congressman responded to the email Monday on X and asserted the ROC is an extension of Russia’s government. He later posted a clarification saying he was only speaking about the ROCOR “operating under the umbrella of the Moscow Patriarchate” and that “most Orthodox churches are NOT affiliated with Moscow.”
“This development raises legitimate concerns that ROCOR or other entities subordinate to Patriarch Kirill could serve as vehicles for intelligence collection or sabotage operations directed at U.S. policymakers,” the letter read. “The vast majority of Orthodox Christians around the world are not subservient to Moscow, but remain proudly Orthodox affiliated with other spiritual leadership.”
A priest of ROCOR and a member of the delegation told the Caller on Wednesday that his church does not have administrative ties with Russia, and it was founded as a Soviet-era response to Russia’s embrace of communism. He said ROCOR only holds spiritual ties with the ROC, along with every other Orthodox church. The priest claimed Wilson’s comments demonstrated an ignorance of Orthodoxy.
Along with ROCOR leaders, the delegation also consisted of Catherine Whiteford, co-chair of the Young Republican National Federation and an Orthodox Christian; senior Orthodox bishops and clerics of the churches of Antioch and Serbia; and a lawyer working for Robert Amsterdam, a lawyer who represents the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), Amsterdam told the Caller in a statement.
The Orthodox Church in America was also part of the delegation, according to The Hill.
The pan-Orthodox delegation represents around 80% of Orthodox faithful in the U.S., including many of Wilson’s constituents, the ROCOR priest told the Caller.
The lawyer representing Amsterdam’s firm in the delegation told the Caller the delegation had not suggested halting U.S. aid to Ukrainian forces but was only speaking to the rights of UOC members who face unfair treatment from the Ukrainian government for alleged relations with Moscow.
The ROCOR priest also clarified that the delegation’s main focus was to raise awareness and support for the UOC.
TOPSHOT – Orthodox devotees carry baskets of traditional Easter delights as they walk outside the Church of the Ascension that was destroyed during the Russian occupation in the spring of 2022, in the village of Lukashivka, Chernigiv region, on May 5, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by ROMAN PILIPEY/AFP via Getty Images)
Wilson told the Caller in the statement that the UOC maintains a direct connection to the ROC.
“[The UOC] declared intent to separate from the Moscow Patriarchate in 2022 after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but it is not formally independent and retains remnants of Moscow leadership from Soviet occupation, which pose substantiated threats to the safety of Ukrainian civilians and soldiers,” his statement read.
His statement clarified that the UOC is different from the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which was established in 2019.
“It is prudent to highlight these factual complexities in church leadership to preserve religious freedom. Well-meaning people should be aware that there are efforts led by Patriarch Kirill to subvert the Christian message to justify invasion and atrocity,” Wilson’s statement concluded.
Viktor Yelensky, head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience, also told the Caller in August that the UOC was investigated and found to hold a connection with the ROC through the Moscow Patriarchate and is now facing a full-scale crackdown by the Ukrainian government.
Amsterdam said that his firm has not worked with the ROC.
“The firm has never been in touch or worked with the Russian Orthodox Church or any of its leadership, clergy or officials,” he said.
Amsterdam also challenged Wilson’s claims, saying the UOC is independent of the ROC. He pointed to the UOC gaining the right to self-governance and broad autonomy in 1990 and declaring full canonical independence from the Moscow Patriarchate following Russia’s attack on Ukraine in 2022.
“Since then, it has undertaken a range of practical measures to prove its separation from the Russian Orthodox Church,” Amsterdam said. “The UOC has provided vast sums in humanitarian aid, and many of its parishioners have and continue to serve in the Ukrainian army on the front lines.”
The Caller previously spoke to leaders of the UOC in Cherkasy and Dnipro, Ukraine, who emphasized that their church has cut ties with the ROC in every way but canonically, which they claim has no bearing over the teachings or administrative processes of the church.
Those leaders, along with local parishioners of the UOC, told the Caller that severing the canonical tie would create another schism instead of preserving the UOC as part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
The UOC members also said they have faced the unfair seizure of churches, harassment and injury resulting from misinformation regarding their alleged relationship with Moscow.
🇺🇦 1/8 🧵 Leaders and parishioners of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) showed me the dark, cramped basements where they now hold liturgy—after their church was violently seized last year. pic.twitter.com/BEscVxBOOQ
— Derek VanBuskirk (@DerekVBK) August 23, 2025
Amsterdam said the November meetings are meant to “present vital evidence and raise awareness of the persecution of the UOC.” He pointed to Pope Francis, JD Vance, the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, the Church of England and the World Council of Churches for having spoken out against the alleged persecution of UOC parishioners and clerical leaders.
Amsterdam emphasized that the churches involved in the delegation have been serving “the spiritual needs of millions” in the U.S. for decades.
“Even at the height of the Cold War, the United States left these churches to worship peaceably,” Amsterdam told the Caller. “It is shocking that there are sitting congressmen willing so blatantly to violate the founding principles of this nation — the freedom of religion and the freedom of speech — and put these churches and their parishioners at risk of reprisals.”
Wilson’s letter urges the DOJ to assess whether Russia or its intelligence services sought to compromise the ROCOR. It also requests that the DOJ “determine whether any clergy, staff, or volunteers of ROCOR or other Russian Orthodox institutions affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate” maintain operational or financial relationships with the Kremlin. (RELATED: Nicki Minaj Delivers Impassioned Defense Of Christians At UN)
Finally, the letter asks Trump’s DOJ to “evaluate whether hierarchical, financial, or property ties between the Moscow Patriarchate and U.S.-based Russian Orthodox entities create vulnerabilities to coercion, sanctions evasion, or state-directed influence.”
“Given the continuing Russian war against Ukraine with mass murder of civilians and kidnapping of children and the well-documented role of the Russian Orthodox Church–Moscow Patriarchate in supporting the invasion, I urge the Department to treat this matter with appropriate urgency,” Wilson wrote.
The letter’s other signatories include Republican Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon, who called on the ROC on Tuesday to condemn Putin’s actions, and Republican Georgia Rep. Austin Scott.
The DOJ offered no comment to the Caller.
Reps. Bacon and Scott have not responded to the Daily Caller’s requests for comment as of publication.