I was a Top Leader at the FBI. What I Saw This Year Was Deeply Worrying. It Should Concern You Too.

Nearly 17 years ago, I started my career at the FBI as a Surveillance Specialist in the Washington Field Office. I filled many roles during my tenure, but one thing that remained constant was my oath to uphold the Constitution and defend the American people.

Of course, I didn’t do that work alone. I shared that mission with the dedicated men and women at the FBI. In those 17 years, I reached some of the highest ranks of the organization and worked on many different threats from criminal gangs and cartels here at home to counterterrorism while serving in Israel.

Last week, I resigned from the FBI.

The mission of the FBI continues in each administration and I am dedicated to supporting it in any way that I can. Unfortunately, that can no longer be done from within the organization.

Donald Trump and Elon Musk have made their agenda clear. They come first — ahead of the American people — every time. That’s why Donald Trump pardoned the insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol Building just hours after he took office. And, it's why they appointed their closest allies to oversee the Bureau.

I took an oath to defend the Constitution. The unqualified leaders Donald Trump chose to lead the bureau act like they took an oath to Trump personally. What I’ve seen over the last few months is deeply concerning. A workplace that was positive is now overcome with fear. The changes imposed on the FBI by Trump, Musk and their loyal director are at odds with the mission of the FBI. While they won’t admit it, their actions are derailing the work of the FBI through chaos. After seeing it up close, I've concluded the chaos is the point.

It may not be today or tomorrow, but these changes and chaos will make our country less safe in the long run.

The media has reported top administration officials were sharing war plans in an unsecured signal chat. Any FBI employee who mishandled classified information in this manner would be (rightly) investigated and disciplined. But even though the FBI has for years been responsible for investigating the mishandling of classified information, Kash Patel made no commitments to investigate “signalgate” in a recent hearing.

Meanwhile, new leadership has cut staffing in an office focused on preventing domestic terrorism. Misplaced priorities like this do nothing to keep us safe.

Employees who fearlessly investigated the events of January 6th 2021 now fear they’ll be fired for doing their jobs. I’ve listened as employees recounted harrowing moments when violent insurrectionists, within hours of release, called their homes and threatened revenge.

These threats are real because Trump released 1,500 violent insurrectionists into our communities.

I’ve served my country and supported the mission of the FBI under presidents of both parties and directors with many different ideas. These include Chris Wray and during the first Trump Administration.

Now, I promise you, it’s different. The current director – aided by a deputy who lacks any past FBI experience – wants to transform the organization into Trump’s personal detective agency, investigating and harassing people that Trump and Elon disagree with. It’s why the new agency leadership has called for protesters to be jailed while letting insurrectionists walk free. Their personal vendetta will fail this country.

I believe I can better serve the agency’s mission from the outside. Everyday Americans who are concerned can do their part by asking members of Congress to act as a check and balance and demand hearings to make sure FBI leadership is doing its job.

I love my country. I want us to succeed, and above all I want Americans to be safe and secure. The current leadership is refusing to do what’s necessary to stop this destruction and it will take all of us to speak out and demand action. Not because it’s convenient, but because our safety, security and the Constitution depend upon it.

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John Sullivan was stationed in FBI field offices in Washington, D.C. and New York, later serving as the Section Chief of the Intelligence Workforce Development Section in the Directorate of Intelligence where he was the senior executive for FBI agents, analysts, and professional staff personnel focused on upskilling the workforce.