Overview

• Newly disclosed FBI documents reveal the Richmond memo was circulated to over 1,000 employees nationwide, not confined to a single field office.
• Records show Richmond, Portland, Milwaukee and Louisville offices co-authored the memo and drafted a bureau-wide version that was shelved after its public disclosure.
• FBI leadership directed the deletion of distribution logs and related records soon after the memo was exposed by a whistleblower.
• The memo flagged “Radical Traditionalist Catholics” as potential domestic terror threats, relying on listings from the Southern Poverty Law Center.
• Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley has escalated his oversight by seeking further materials to clarify the memo’s development and true scope.