The Federal Bureau of Investigation has fired several employees involved in the 2023 catholic internal memo. The circulation suggested that conservative catholic ideologies were connected to violent extremism
FBI director Kash Patel. Photograph: CNP/Shutterstock
Legal representatives of the fired individuals confirmed their dismissal on Friday. Among those fired are four intelligence analysts and one senior analyst.
This happens amidst an ongoing internal restructuring at the Bureau under the new leadership of Kash Patel. Patel assumed office in 2024 following the presidential transition.
In January 2023, an intelligence document was created and circulated within the FBI’s Virginia field office. The document investigated potential connections between domestic terrorism and hard-stance Catholicism.
It asserted that “Radical Traditionalist Catholics” were at risk of being recruited by racially driven violent extremists.
The memo went on to propose pre-emptive measures, including source development within the said religious communities.
But scrutiny and backlash began the moment this document went public. Critics said the document encouraged the weaponization of federal law enforcement against religious groups.
The memo was further denounced for its proposals, which critics argued would violate First Amendment protections. Even then, Attorney General Merrick Garland said the document was appalling.
Christopher Wray was the director of the FBI at the time. Following the backlash, he retracted the memo, but further investigations also proved that its publication did not meet due diligence requirements.
This was established after an internal review in 2023 among 26 employees. The review found that the analysts didn’t have sufficient evidence to link religious interests to domestic extremist ideologies.
The investigation declared that the analysts, in failing to use specific domestic terrorism terminology, created the impression that the FBI was profiling Americans based on religion.
The Department of Justice conducted its own investigations and, in a report, concluded that the memo shared no evidence of malicious intent on the part of religious communities.
At that time, the memo was treated as a professional error, and no authorities recommended the termination of the analysts involved. This has changed as the current leadership under Patel goes for dismissal.
David Laufman is the attorney of record for the fired employees. He has described their termination as openly unjust and a “subversion of standard FBI policy.”
These terminations are not happening in isolation. Since Trump’s swearing in, the FBI and the DOJ have made several dismissals, including the firing of several intelligence professionals involved in the Trump’s willful retention of classified documents case.
The FBI’s disciplinary policy for “poor tradecraft” has traditionally been retraining and not dismissal. In the new politically sensitive climate and under new leadership, the Bureau appears to be treating professional errors as terminable offenses.
The tripwire’s suggestion reveals that the FBI should have considered developing sources within places of worship had the memo been implemented. This goes against the FBI’s Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (DIOG), which avoids investigating “sensitive facilities” like churches.
As the Bureau’s internal transition continues, attention will shift to whether these firings were justifiable by its internal policies and standards of operations or by the pressure from the White House as a result of religious groups lobbying. The FBI has not responded to our request for comments.
