The FBI is still grappling with controversy, with whistleblowers and former agents advocating against the alleged politicization taking place within the agency.
Nicole Parker, a former special agent for the FBI, joined Mornings on Friday to discuss what she experienced during her time at the FBI and the dangerous consequences for whistleblowers who dare to hold the agency accountable.
You have people that are seeing things that they do not agree with, but they are afraid to speak up, Maria said. They are scared, she said. Go at what the FBI did to some of these whistleblowers, she said.
In May, the House Judiciary Committee and Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government released a report that revealed new whistleblower testimony from several current and former FBI employees, revealing the abuses and misconduct in the FBI. The report said that the FBI whistleblowers described the FBI's retaliatory conduct against them after making protected disclosures about what they believed in good faith to be wrong conduct. She criticized her former employer, saying that if you speak up, they re going to find just anything on you, and they are going to rip you to shreds and that s terrifying to anyone. She also provided an alternative solution to how the FBI could handle those who speak out against its conduct.
Why don't we humbly look back and say, you know what? Is there something we could fix, let's listen and let's see, is there something we could fix? She explained that she had a long memory and was able to remember a number of things.
The former special agent, who was under the Obama administration's administration, began working for the FBI in 2010 as an assistant to President George W. Bush.
The trickle-down effect started at the top, and it came all the way down to the field offices, she said.
During her time at the Miami division, she and her colleagues witnessed the FBI's reaction after launching the Trump-Russia collusion investigation, also known as Operation Crossfire Hurricane.
That s when it really came to light, Parker said in a statement to the Associated Press.
The FBI has resigned. The FBI's trajectory appeared to have stayed the same on paper, but it changed drastically, she said, while describing the evolution of the politicized bureau.
She also pointed out that agents everywhere saw what was happening.
The investigation of former President Trump's handling of the 2016 investigation damaged Parker's reputation and her former colleagues.
All of us were dragged through the mud when we had nothing to do with it, she said.
As backlash over Crossfire Hurricane grew, the public became more afraid of the FBI, ultimately interfering with Parker's job.
It makes it difficult to do my job when I'm trying to recruit sources, for example, and they don't even trust me, she said. How are you one of the good agents or one of the political agents?