Several FBI analysts tied to the creation of a 2023 memo warning of a potential threat from Catholic 'violent extremists' were told they were being fired.
Several FBI intelligence analysts tied to a contentious 2023 memo on ‘Radical Traditionalist Catholics’ were fired in the latest shake-up under Director Kash Patel. The memo, swiftly retracted after GOP backlash, warned of Catholic-linked violent extremism, but Justice Department reviews faulted its tradecraft while finding no malicious intent or improper purpose.
The dismissals mark a broader purge across the FBI and Justice Department as Patel and the Trump administration oust officials linked to investigations of the president or deemed out of step with his agenda. Several FBI analysts tied to the creation of a 2023 memo warning of a potential threat from Catholic “violent extremists” were fired Friday, according to their lawyer, the latest wave of terminations under Director Kash Patel.
The fired employees included four intelligence analysts and a supervisory analyst. The FBI declined to comment.
“This action is manifestly unjust, completely unsupported by the facts, and subverts standard FBI policy and procedure,” their lawyer, David Laufman, said in a statement. “These individuals deserved far better for the exceptional and faithful public service they rendered to protect our country. ”The January 2023 intelligence product produced by analysts in the FBI’s Richmond, Va.
, field office emerged as a political focal point after it was issued, with Republicans in Congress citing it as part of their broader claim that the FBI during the Biden administration was targeting conservatives. Then-FBI Director Chris Wray denied that allegation and the agency has said the document was quickly retracted and an internal review was launched. Merrick Garland, the attorney general under President Biden, has said he was “appalled” by the memo.
Earlier Justice Department investigations into the memo challenged the analytical tradecraft but did not find intentional misconduct by the analysts involved. The firings are part of a broader personnel purge under Patel, a President Trump loyalist who over the last year has pushed out dozens of employees who either contributed to investigations of the president or who were perceived as not in alignment with the administration’s agenda.
The Justice Department has engaged in similarly sweeping firings of prosecutors since Trump took office last year. In February, for instance, the FBI fired a group of counterintelligence agents who participated in the investigation into Trump over his retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla. Critics including former federal officials say the purge has transformed federal law enforcement agencies into politically motivated extensions of the Trump White House.
The classified documents investigation resulted in a federal indictment against Trump, but the case was dismissed after his 2024 election. The Richmond memo, which emerged from a domestic terrorism investigation, sought to examine a potential link between what it called “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 source development.
” FBI leadership quickly condemned those findings once the document became public. 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 analytic tradecraft standards and failed to recognize that the product, as drafted, equated the subjects’ interest in their self-described form of religion with racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist ideology without sufficient evidence or articulable support.
” The failure to adhere to standards, including on proper domestic terrorism terminology, “created the appearance that the FBI conducts investigative activity based on religious affiliation,” the letter said.
“One of the FBI’s most fundamental principles is that investigative activity may not be based solely on the exercise of rights guaranteed by the First Amendment. ”A Justice Department inspector general report in 2024 summarized the earlier FBI review by saying that though there were departures from proper analytic tradecraft, “no evidence of a malicious intent or an improper purpose” were found. Rebuilding L.A.
: How One Eaton Fire Survivor Has Found the Strength to Move On and Rebuild Eighteen months after the Eaton and Palisades Fires, survivors are rebuilding — not alone, but together. On Poppyfields Drive in Altadena, Whitney Haggins and at least 6 of her neighbors are leading the way. Today we discuss one of the pivotal events of the 1960s: the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.
Though the gunman was caught at the scene, confessed at trial, and even bragged about the shooting, his motives have largely been forgotten. Modern LA earned its first smoggy nickname 450 years ago, as the “bay of smokes.
” At the La Brea tar pits, we take a short walk through a long history with curator Regan Dunn, who explains how and why the first Angelenos would have set fires that filled the broad bowl of LA and foretold the curse of smog.
Please follow us on Google to support us United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
FBI analysts tied to disputed 'Catholic ideology' memo told they're being fired, AP sources saySeveral FBI analysts tied to the creation of a 2023 memo warning of a potential threat from Catholic “violent extremists” were told Friday that they were being fired, the latest wave of terminations under the leadership of Director Kash Patel.
Read more »
FBI analysts tied to disputed 'Catholic ideology' memo told they're being fired, AP sources sayWASHINGTON (AP) — Several FBI analysts tied to the creation of a 2023 memo warning of a potential threat from Catholic “violent extremists” were told Friday
Read more »
FBI fires analysts who worked onRichmond memo about Catholic extremist ideology, sources sayThe five fired FBI analysits were involved in the creation of a withdrawn internal 2023 intelligence memo on "Radical Traditionalist Catholic" ideology, sources said.
Read more »
FBI Analysts Fired Over 2023 Catholic Memo as Purge Concerns MountThe Trump administration and FBI Director Kash Patel have dismissed several analysts involved in a 2023 memo warning of extremist threats among traditional Catholics, sparking backlash over alleged politicization of the bureau. While internal reviews found serious flaws in the memo's creation, critics say the firings are part of a broader purge of independent officials. The controversy deepens tensions over the FBI's independence and accusations of anti-Christian bias.
Read more »