Former FBI Supervisory Agent Shares Troublesome Inside Insights
This interview with John Nantz, a former 20-year FBI agent who has served in supervisory roles, candidly highlights recent political agency changes we should all care about.
John: Please begin by briefly discussing your background with the agency.
Larry, following graduation with a J.D. in 1998 from Regent University School of Law, my law enforcement career began serving for nearly six years as a Greenville County, South Carolina Deputy Sheriff where I rose to the rank of sergeant.
I was first assigned to the Miami Field Office counterintelligence squad out of Quantico in 2002 where I was selected for Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) operations addressing certain crisis situations such as snipers, barricaded subjects, hostage situations, etc.
While in Miami, I was then assigned to a ground surveillance squad known as "SOG."
After a few years I obtained a transfer to the Attorney General’s Protection Detail at the FBI’s Washington, D.C. Field Office (WFO) where I was later transferred to SOG, and ultimately competitively selected for promotion to Supervisory Special Agent (SSA).
After serving in that ground surveillance capacity, I transferred to supervise WFO’s aviation surveillance squad until retirement in 2022.
John, can you characterize some general agency changes and trends you witnessed throughout your years of service?
Larry, I came into the FBI during Director Robert Mueller’s tenure following 9/11 which emphasized an intelligence collection priority above criminal case investigations.
The expectation for agents prior to this time was that they should instead be out in the field cultivating new information sources and managing them toward the development and successful prosecution of criminal cases.
This dissatisfaction even applied to counterintelligence squads, to which I was assigned.
There was an unspoken but noticeable pressure from HQ program managers on down to squad level SSA’s to produce intelligence products.
Whereas in 2002 this pressure was slight, it increased exponentially in the next decade.
John, what key events triggered and reflected these institutional changes?
What I consider to be a watershed moment in FBI history was former Director James Comey’s exoneration of Hillary Clinton for having classified information on her personal server — some of it top secret — during the now infamous press conference.
Although mishandling of top-secret information would result in the immediate suspension of all security clearances and summary dismissal of any federal employee, I was astounded when FBI Director James Comey pronounced on national television that no reasonable prosecutor would bring a charge in Hillary’s case.
At that moment it was clear to me, and to many of my colleagues, that the FBI had become transformed to a partisan tool of Democrat politicians.
I don’t think it can be overemphasized how damaging the Obama administration was in planting seeds of full-blown political weaponization of the DOJ and FBI across the entire intelligence community.
Obama’s doctrine of radical transformation led his ideological progeny at FBI Headquarters to launch a numbing variety of political assaults on constitutional principles and protections including the Trump Crossfire Hurricane investigation, the coverup of Hunter’s laptop scandal, and the previously unimaginable pre-dawn raid on his private Mar-a-Lago residence.
John, how have these developments impacted the overall morale of rank-and- file agents?
Larry, watching these events unfold was incredibly dispiriting, causing me and many of my colleagues to soon begin counting down days to immediately punch out on a 20-year retirement eligibility.
"DEI policies on hiring, promotions, and overall management began to have a detrimental effect on agency morale and effectiveness at the tail end of my career when many of us noted a profound change in the poor quality and woke entitlement attitudes of new agents."
A culture of political bureaucratic tribalism ensued — most particularly emanating out of Washington Headquarters — causing traditional work pride and performance to suffer, as did internal and public trust in a venerable agency essential to protecting all of us.
John, what can be done to reform and restore trust in the agency? Is there hope?
Larry yes, the FBI is indispensable, and it can be saved.
Here it is imperative that Donald Trump return to replace current AG Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray with people chosen, above all, for unwavering loyalty to the Constitution rather than hyper-partisan politicos who have weaponized the federal justice system.
The director should also be someone with a clear mandate to de-radicalize and reemphasize the criminal nature of FBI intelligence investigations, which was historically the case.
On day-one, President Trump should replace fundamentally racist DEI agendas with merit-based hiring and advancement incentive policies.
Regarding DOJ, the president should also mandate reform from top to bottom.
I’ve discussed in detail these and other issues confronting the FBI in my regular Townhall column.
Larry, in the beginning and end, it’s all about honest and effective leadership.
Voters will determine if that returns following November elections.
Larry Bell is an endowed professor of space architecture at the University of Houston where he founded the Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture and the graduate space architecture program. His latest of 12 books is "Architectures Beyond Boxes and Boundaries: My Life By Design" (2022). Read Larry Bell's Reports — More Here.