Michael Feinberg

Shortly after overhearing that conversation, I applied to the FBI.

The mere application process takes 12 to 24 months.

Hand-to-hand combat and firearms and tactics.

The Bureau sent me to summers of immersion training in Mandarin.

There is a myth among many people who have not worked for the intelligence community or law enforcement agencies before that personnel are fungible, that you can easily force somebody out of retirement age and just have them replaced by

by a new recruit.

In reality, every year that somebody spends in the community, they are providing more value than they did the year beforehand, simply because they have more expertise and better judgment.

It's not just a question of the millions of dollars that the government spends training us.

It is, more importantly, a question of what we learn over time that cannot be taught through any manner other than experience.

One of the real ironies of how my career ended, I was forced out by the second Trump administration when the Huawei indictments were one of their signal accomplishments against the Chinese government during the first Trump administration.

I received a phone call from my special agent in charge that Dan Bongino had discovered I was friends with Pete Strzok, who was a former FBI official who gained some notoriety for his criticisms of Trump.

It was made clear to me that my career was over.

I would not be getting a promotion for which I was being considered.

I would, in fact, be getting demoted.

At the very least, I would be investigated over the nature of my friendship, not wanting to put my family through the inevitable hell that all that would entail.

I made a decision in about 12 hours that the best thing to do was leave of my own accord and walk away with my dignity and not give them the satisfaction of ruining my life.

Even now, remembering leaving the FBI has been the defining heartbreak of my life.

I loved being of use to my community and country,

And I'm forced to re-reconcile myself to the fact that that's something I'm not allowed to do anymore.

For a public servant who has not just dedicated their life, but often risks that life on behalf of his fellow Americans, to have that privilege ripped from him for a petty and political reason is at times, frankly, too much to bear.