Sic semper tyrannis — “Thus always to tyrants” — is the state motto of Virginia, which was my home for the first five years I served as an FBI special agent. Virginia is also the home to the FBI Academy at Quantico. I don’t know if it is poetic or ironic that this motto adorns the flags flying over the land where new agents accept their badges, their duty weapons, and their credentials identifying them as special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. That is usually a proud moment for what my fellow FBI whistleblower Steve Friend calls a “system idealist.”
One must be a system idealist to take on the duty of “investigating violations of the laws of the United States, collecting evidence in cases in which the United States is or may be a party in interest, and performing other duties imposed by law.” That is what every agent’s credentials say.
No FBI agents prior to the Capitol riot case in 2021 saw a squad-wide let alone bureau-wide effort to pursue misdemeanor investigations.
But that list is cursory job description. Every agent also swears an oath.
The oath of office is a sobering paragraph for a system idealist. It is a commitment to the duty, but also to the
limits, that…
