FBI Fires Several Analysts Linked to Controversial 2023 'Catholic Ideology' Memo

Several FBI employees involved in drafting a 2023 intelligence report that warned of a possible threat from Catholic “violent extremists” were fired Friday, according to their attorney. The move represents the latest round of firing under FBI Director Kash Patel, the AP reported.

Those terminated reportedly included four intelligence analysts and one surveillance analyst.

Read also | Kash Patel claims the FBI was shut out of the early investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance

“This action is patently unfair, completely unsubstantiated by the facts, and subverts standard FBI policy and procedures,” their attorney, David Laufman, said in a statement. “These individuals deserve so much more for the exceptional and loyal public service they have rendered in protecting our country.”

The January 2023 intelligence product, created by analysts at the FBI’s Richmond, Virginia office, proved a political flashpoint upon its release, with congressional Republicans repeatedly citing it as part of their broader claim that the FBI targeted conservatives during the Biden administration.

Then-director Chris Wray repeatedly denied the allegation, and the FBI said the document was quickly retracted and an internal review launched. Merrick Garland, the attorney general under President Joe Biden, said he was “appalled” by the announcement.

An earlier Justice Department investigation into the memo questioned analyst trading but found no willful misconduct by the analysts involved.

Read also | Kash Patel clashed with Democratic senator over drinking allegations

The firings are part of a broader personnel purge under Patel, a Trump loyalist who over the past year has pushed out dozens of staffers who either contributed to the president’s investigation or were perceived as out of step with the administration’s agenda. Since Trump took office last year, the Justice Department has engaged in a similarly large-scale firing of prosecutors.

In February, for example, the FBI fired a group of counterintelligence agents involved in the investigation of President Donald Trump over his retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago mansion in Palm Beach, Florida.

The Richmond Memorandum, which emerged from the Domestic Terrorism Inquiry, sought to explore potential links between “radical traditionalist Catholic” ideology and racially and ethnically motivated extremists. It warned of the potential for violence and also highlighted what the authors described as “new avenues for tripwire and resource development.” Once the document became public, FBI leadership quickly denounced the findings.

An internal FBI review described in a 2023 letter to Congress and based on interviews with 26 people “found that all individuals involved in the creation, review, and approval of the product failed to adhere to analytical business standards and failed to recognize that the product, as designed, aligned subjects’ interest in their self-described form of religion without racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist support for VERM.”

Read also | Kash Patel claims ‘false information’ led Russia to investigate Trump campaign in 2016

Failure to adhere to standards, including proper domestic terrorism terminology, “created the appearance that the FBI was conducting investigative work based on religious affiliation,” the letter said. “One of the FBI’s most fundamental principles is that investigative activity must not be based solely on the exercise of rights guaranteed by the First Amendment.”

A 2024 Justice Department inspector general report summarized an earlier FBI review by saying that while there were deviations from proper analytical trading, “no evidence of malicious intent or improper purpose” was found, the AP reported.

MS NOW reported the fire earlier.