CHESAPEAKE, Va. – On July 3, Michael Feinberg, the former assistant special agent in charge at the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, published an essay entitled “Goodbye to All That,” detailing his decision to resign from the Bureau five years before becoming eligible for retirement and a pension.
In addition to his role in Norfolk, Feinberg served as acting special agent in charge for three months at the beginning of the second Trump administration, held senior positions in the Los Angeles and Washington field offices, and notably led several investigations into Chinese intelligence services during the first Trump administration.
On May 31, Feinberg had a series of calls with his supervisor, Dominique Evans, the special agent in charge of the Norfolk office. Feinberg wrote that the conversations “made clear to me that… my career with the organization had… come to an end.”
At the direction of FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, Evans informed Feinberg that he would not be receiving any promotions and should “prepare [himself] for the likelihood of being demoted.”
Feinberg stated he had never faced “disciplinary review or investigation” and was “not accused of violating any rules or regulations.” He said his “only supposed sin” was his longstanding friendship with Pete Strzok, former deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division.
Strzok led the Bureau’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and was fired in 2018 after text messages about Donald Trump were made public. According to Feinberg, Strzok is on the “enemies list” of FBI Director Kash Patel, and in 2018, Bongino publicly criticized Strzok on NRATV (National Rifle Association TV).
Less than 24 hours after the calls, Feinberg resigned. In his essay, he asserted that his case is not unique, writing that “more and more special agents are driven out of the Bureau on mere suspicion of political unreliability,” a development he warned “should be concerning to all Americans.”
On July 1, Feinberg submitted a resignation letter to Evans. In it, he wrote, “It was never explained what policy, procedure, or institutional norm I had supposedly violated other than communicating with someone whom our current management finds politically undesirable.”
“To anyone who cares about the Constitution and rule of law… this is not right,” he added.
He accused current leadership of failing to understand the last word in the Bureau’s motto, “Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity.” He cited several controversial actions, including the forced retirements of senior executives, the DOJ reopening cases on prosecutors who investigated Trump, and the FBI sharing the names of employees involved in January 6 investigations.
The letter concluded with Feinberg noting that he and his wife are expecting their first child this summer. He wrote that he had vowed to live in a way that would allow him to “look my son in the eye” as he raised him, but that “it is now apparent that I can no longer both fulfill that vow and continue working for our current leadership.”
Feinberg closed his essay by stating that although his “formal” public service had ended, he still intends to serve the country by exploring the issues raised in his resignation and critiquing what he described as the administration’s shift in priorities—from “hostile foreign intelligence services… to the homeland to focus on minor immigration status offenses.”
“Fidelity, bravery, and integrity, forever,” he concluded.
Should I be shocked at this? I continue to be amazed that the FBI has become an organization that no longer is concerned about protecting the USA. It is concerned about protecting the feelings of one man . What a pathetic state of affairs.