O’Keefe Media Group sent a formal letter May 29 to the Department of Justice (DOJ) supporting CatholicVote’s request for an investigation into allegations that the Washington Nationals discriminated against Catholic pitcher Trevor Williams because of his faith.
The letter, sent by First Amendment attorney Benjamin Barr to Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon on behalf of the group, follows secretly recorded footage released by O’Keefe Media Group showing Nationals Director of Community Relations Sean Hudson saying the team excludes Williams from certain social media promotions because of his faith and public defense of Catholicism.
In the letter, Barr said O’Keefe Media Group and Citizen Journalism Foundation worked together on the reporting referenced in CatholicVote President and CEO Kelsey Reinhardt’s May 27 letter to the DOJ. Barr said a citizen journalist for the foundation conducted the undercover investigation, which O’Keefe Media Group later aired on social media and on its weekly show, “On The Inside.”
The groups said they are “happy to assist” the DOJ, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), or another federal agency with jurisdiction by “providing all available information that they have.”
James O’Keefe, founder and CEO of O’Keefe Media Group, said in an X post sharing the letter that he hopes the DOJ will “take serious action against the religious discrimination” against Williams.
🚨EXCLUSIVE: O'Keefe Media Sends Formal Letter To DOJ & @AAGDhillon Regarding Our Lates Washington Nationals Investigation
— James O'Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) May 29, 2026
First Amendment Attorney @BenjaminBarr1A just sent the letter over to the Department of Justice in tandem with @RepBoebert & @CatholicVote who also sent… pic.twitter.com/X6zbGiIIDe
The letter comes two days after CatholicVote sent similar formal letters to the Nationals and the DOJ Civil Rights Division, as Zeale News previously reported. Reinhardt asked the DOJ to investigate the allegations and refer the matter to the EEOC.
“If a Major League Baseball organization in the nation's capital believes that being a faithful Catholic makes a player unsuitable for public promotion, then every Catholic employee in America should be alarmed,” she wrote to the DOJ.
Reinhardt also asked the Nationals whether it is team policy “to punish, exclude, sideline, or diminish players because they are Catholic” and whether Hudson’s comments reflect any formal or informal policy.
>> CatholicVote CEO urges DOJ to probe Nationals over anti-Catholicism scandal <<
On May 28, Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., also sent a letter urging the DOJ to take “immediate and decisive action” in investigating the allegations, according to FOX News.
Boebert said Hudson’s alleged comments could indicate the franchise violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits workplace discrimination based on religion and other protected classes.
“Americans of faith should not face professional repercussions for objecting to the mockery of their sacred traditions,” she wrote in the letter, according to FOX. “MLB’s privileged legal position should not become a license for exclusionary practices.”
As Zeale News previously reported, the Nationals have not publicly responded to the matter.