FBI Director Kash Patel fired a group of bureau intelligence analysts Friday over a rescinded 2023 memo about “radical traditionalist Catholic ideology” that has long been a focus of Republicans despite an investigation that found no anti-Catholic bias, three people familiar with the matter told MS NOW.

The analysts worked in the FBI’s Richmond office, where the memo originated, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to sensitive personnel issues. They said at least five analysts were included in the firings.

The 2023 memo was titled, “Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities.”

The memo argued that some white supremacists and racially motivated violent extremists were attempting to recruit a small subset of “radical traditionalist Catholics” and suggested that Catholic congregations could present opportunities for intelligence gathering.

It stemmed in part from a domestic terrorism investigation into a Virginia violent extremist who joined a Catholic sect not recognized by the Vatican, according to public records.

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As soon as it became public, then-FBI Director Christopher Wray ordered it withdrawn.  He apologized for it in several Congressional hearings, saying it didn’t meet the FBI’s standards.  Then-Attorney General Merrick Garland said he was “appalled” by the memo but called ludicrous allegations that he condoned discrimination against Catholics.  

A review in 2024 by the Justice Department’s inspector general found no evidence of anti-Catholic bias or malicious intent on the part of the FBI personnel who prepared the memo.  But the IG concluded it suffered from significant analytical problems and poor tradecraft.

Some of the information in the memo came from the Southern Poverty Law Center, an anti-extremist organization that is now the subject of a deeply controversial fraud indictment.

The FBI declined to comment.

House Republicans released a report on the memo in 2023 titled “The FBI’s breach of religious freedom: The weaponization of law enforcement against Catholic Americans.”