It is sad to say, but what Americans have been seeing unravel before their eyes in recent weeks with the revelations of Arctic Frost and other FBI-related scandals are not the least bit shocking to me. In fact, it validates what I detail in my book The Two FBIs: The Bravery and Betrayal I Saw in My Time at the Bureau, which was published by Broadside Books on November 11. I was humbled to personally be invited to the Oval Office last week to meet with President Donald Trump, who endorsed my book.
I loved being an FBI special agent for over a dozen years and considered it a sacred responsibility and mission. After graduating from the FBI Academy, I was assigned to the Miami Field Office, initially working on white-collar crimes and then transferring to then squad C15, working tirelessly on the number one nationally ranked violent crime fugitive task force, obliterating the most heinous crimes. I share harrowing investigations and gripping takedowns.
Yes, it was physically taxing and emotionally jarring, but I believed I was fulfilling a greater purpose—until things changed and the FBI’s trajectory was upended. I watched as the FBI became politically and socially weaponized. It was as if there became two FBIs.
NICOLE PARKER ON BRAVERY AND BETRAYAL IN THE FBI
I believe that being honest is vital to living an honorable life. This means speaking up when things do not sit well in your soul, telling it as it is. That’s not always easy. Sometimes it puts a target on your back. While at the FBI, I knew agents who chose either to tell the truth or to tell a varnished version of it; they told others what they wanted to hear. That’s not me.
FBI 1 is comprised of those who join the FBI with pure motives to serve Americans, putting the needs of victims first. They are ethical, honoring their oath to uphold the Constitution and protect in a fair and unbiased manner. They keep their heads low, stay off the radar and work hard, doing the heavy lifting while pursuing noble cases without fanfare or self-promotion. FBI 1 makes the agency proud.
FBI 2, on the other hand, is the antithesis of FBI 1. It is comprised of FBI employees who abuse their law enforcement power to push their political and social agendas. Many are self-promoters in leadership positions either at headquarters in D.C. or in executive management nationwide, while others are field agents or support staff.
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FBI 2 is not confined to one location or one role; its members are interspersed throughout the agency from top to bottom. FBI 2’s mindset covers a broad spectrum, exuding haughty arrogance from some and blasé laziness from others. FBI 2’s shameful actions have destroyed the bureau’s once stellar reputation.
Is it an overstatement to say that the FBI is embroiled in a civil war? I do not think so. Lines have been drawn and sides taken: FBI 1 versus FBI 2.
On the one side: integrity, meritocracy, protecting the American people. On the other side: personal agendas and identity politics, DEI, serious crime investigations replaced by politically motivated cases, the upholding of law and order replaced by performative posturing.
I agonized for over a decade, but eventually, I concluded that the FBI had become a place where integrity was no longer the priority. I chose to leave, knowing that I would be risking my professional reputation. I have made my decision, and I will stand behind it.
Far beyond that, two agents were killed while executing a search warrant on a child predator. One of them was my closest friend in the bureau, a spectacularly gifted and devoted agent whose legacy deserves better than what the FBI was offering.
My story isn’t always pretty, but it is the truth as I saw it and as I lived it. The war goes on. But I am hopeful with the new administration that FBI 1 will be elevated while FBI 2 must be eliminated.
I believe that in the end, good will prevail. I chose to share my story of the two FBIs with the world, to make it my contribution to hastening that outcome.
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This opinion article was adapted from the author’s book, The Two FBIs.