The FBI has terminated several analysts involved in the creation of a controversial 2023 memo that warned of potential threats from Catholic "violent extremists," according to their attorney. The firings, which occurred on Friday, are the latest in a series of personnel changes under FBI Director Kash Patel, a loyalist of former President Donald Trump.
Details of the Firings
The affected employees include four intelligence analysts and one supervisory analyst. Their lawyer, David Laufman, condemned the decision in a statement, calling it "manifestly unjust" and "completely unsupported by the facts." He added that the firings "subvert standard FBI policy and procedure" and that the individuals "deserved far better for the exceptional and faithful public service they rendered to protect our country." The FBI declined to comment on the terminations.
Background on the Memo
The January 2023 intelligence product, produced by analysts in the FBI's Richmond, Virginia, field office, quickly became a political flashpoint. Republicans in Congress cited it as evidence that the FBI under President Joe Biden targeted conservatives. Then-FBI Director Chris Wray repeatedly denied these allegations, and the bureau stated that the document was swiftly retracted and an internal review was launched. Attorney General Merrick Garland expressed being "appalled" by the memo.
Earlier investigations by the Justice Department challenged the analytical tradecraft used in the memo but found no intentional misconduct by the analysts involved. An internal FBI review, described in a 2023 letter to Congress, concluded that all individuals involved "failed to adhere to analytic tradecraft standards" and that the document equated religious interest with racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist ideology without sufficient evidence. The review emphasized that such failures could create the appearance of investigative activity based on religious affiliation, violating First Amendment rights.
Broader Personnel Purge
The firings are part of a wider purge under Patel, who has pushed out dozens of employees linked to investigations of Trump or perceived as not aligned with the administration's agenda. The Justice Department has similarly conducted sweeping firings of prosecutors since Trump's second presidency began in early 2025. In February, the FBI fired a group of counterintelligence agents who worked on the investigation into Trump's retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
The Richmond memo, which originated from a domestic terrorism investigation, sought to explore a potential link between "Radical Traditionalist Catholic" ideology and racially or ethnically motivated extremists. It warned of possible violence and suggested new avenues for source development. FBI leadership quickly condemned the findings once the memo became public.
A Justice Department inspector general report in 2024 summarized the earlier FBI review, noting departures from proper analytic tradecraft but finding "no evidence of a malicious intent or an improper purpose." The firings were first reported by MSNBC.
