FBI Fires Five Analysts Who Helped Draft Flawed 2023 Richmond Memo on Radical Traditionalist Catholics

The FBI has fired at least five analysts who participated in drafting a 2023 internal intelligence memo produced by its Richmond field office. The document, known as the Richmond Memo, explored possible connections between ethnically motivated violent extremists and radical Catholic views.

Multiple sources familiar with the matter told CBS News that the dismissals are the latest in a series of removals of bureau employees that began last year.

The analysts’ firings were first reported by MS Now. The FBI declined to comment. An internal investigation found no evidence of malicious intent by the memo’s drafters. It concluded that the document failed to meet proper standards and contained errors in professional judgment.

Following the review, the FBI introduced corrective measures to strengthen approval processes for intelligence products and admonished the employees involved. A separate review by the Justice Department’s then-inspector general reached similar conclusions.

It found no evidence that anyone directed the analysts to establish links between violent extremists and specific religions, and no indication that the analysts made discriminatory or inappropriate comments.

The memo was withdrawn under former FBI Director Chris Wray. It later appeared in a report issued earlier this year by the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias, an entity created by one of President Trump’s executive orders. ” It also alleged that the Richmond office placed “misplaced reliance” on the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The Southern Poverty Law Center faces separate criminal charges brought by the Justice Department, which alleges the organization lied to donors and banks while paying informants to infiltrate hate groups. The SPLC has denied wrongdoing and described the prosecution as vindictive.