Overview

• Newly released Judiciary Committee records show the memo was drafted by multiple field offices and shared with more than 1,000 FBI employees, contradicting Christopher Wray’s claim it was a single Richmond product.
• Internal emails indicate field offices in Buffalo, Milwaukee, Portland and Louisville received the memo linking “Radical Traditionalist Catholics” to violent extremism and monitored local Catholic groups.
• The memo drew on Southern Poverty Law Center classifications as evidence of extremist threats, prompting staff in Phoenix and Milwaukee to question reliance on the biased source.
• Investigators uncovered at least 13 additional documents and five attachments using anti-Catholic terminology, including a second draft prepared for bureau-wide distribution.
• Records suggest former Deputy Director Paul Abbate ordered the deletion of files tracking memo recipients and references the day after its whistleblower disclosure.