FBI Director Fires Five Staff Over 2023 Catholic Memo

FBI Director Kash Patel has fired five employees connected to a controversial 2023 intelligence memo that examined potential links between a segment of Catholic adherents and violent extremism. The terminations, confirmed Friday, involved four intelligence analysts and one supervisory analyst from the FBI’s Richmond, Virginia, field office.

The memo, produced in January 2023, focused on what it termed "Radical Traditionalist Catholic" ideology and explored possible connections to racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism. It suggested avenues for developing sources within Catholic communities. The document was swiftly retracted after becoming public, with then-FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland condemning its content. Garland called the memo "appalling."

An internal FBI review, later summarized by the Justice Department's inspector general, found the analysts failed to adhere to proper analytic standards and lacked sufficient evidence for their conclusions. The review stated the document created the appearance that the FBI considered religious belief as a basis for investigative activity, a violation of fundamental principles....