Thirty former FBI agents, including a retired deputy assistant director, head of counterterrorism and five SWAT team members, have spoken out publicly in support of suspended FBI whistleblower Stephen Friend.
Their heartfelt messages, obtained exclusively by The Post, show a deep and widespread anguish about the politicization of the FBI.
“It’s time to stop the FBI from being the enforcer of a political party’s ideology,” says Ernie Tibaldi, a retired agent from San Francisco. “We need to reestablish the FBI as the apolitical and independent law enforcement entity that it always was.”
He expressed gratitude to Friend “for having the courage to stand up to the corruption that has taken over the leadership of the FBI.”
Many former agents hailed Friend, a SWAT team member in Florida, as a “hero,” after he was punished for refusing to participate in what he regarded as unnecessarily heavy-handed SWAT raids over Jan. 6 misdemeanors.
In his whistleblower complaint to the Department of Justice inspector general, Friend alleged that the FBI has been manipulating case-file management in order to falsely inflate the threat of domestic terrorism, and using unconstitutional, excessive force against political dissenters.
‘Moral courage’
Terry Turchie, former deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division, describes Friend as “a model example of what FBI agents nationwide should be.”
“Moral courage, leadership in the face of pressure, and true to the Oath of Office FBI agents take to defend the United States Constitution and protect America and its citizens.
“I am beyond proud to offer him my support in the decisions he had to make.”
Anna Friend
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