Philip Fields Sifts Through the Wreckage

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The decay didn’t start with the election. The realization the Bureau was too fragile to survive started in the quiet, persistent failures of earlier years. By Election Day 2024, the writing was on the wall. FBI leadership had already surrendered. My initial reaction to "The Fork in the Road" email was visceral. When the email arrived, I hesitated. Twenty years of public service—thirteen as an FBI intelligence analyst—is no small thing to throw away. As my colleagues speculated over the legitimacy of the buyout and the institution crumbled around us, I recalled a friend's departing words from years earlier. They felt like they could do more for the FBI’s mission by not working there. I…