I am Emily Fertitta, a former Special Agent, and I want to share my experience of retaliation and unlawful actions by the FBI in order to promote reform of the agency. After my husband, also a special agent with the FBI, reported violations of policy and law by FBI managers in 2021, retaliation was immediate. As his case moved through the DOJ processes and eventually to federal court, the case threatened to expose violations of policy, law, and the constitution by senior FBI officials. Amended Federal Complaint

As the FBI was unable to intimidate my husband to pull his lawsuit, the FBI then turned their attention to me. I was ordered, under the threat of disciplinary action, to a three-day, unrecorded marathon interrogation involving the issues in the civil case. I was told I would be stripped of my constitutional rights and had no spousal privilege. After 19 years of federal service, I finally resigned in January 2025, due to the unending threats made under the guise of National Security. It is ironic that under the previous administration the DOJ touted civil rights, yet it actively protected an FBI leader who had documented and widely known records of violating the law and constitution.

As my husband’s attorney attempted to question senior FBI leaders as part of the civil proceedings, the DOJ suddenly announced that the issues in the civil proceedings were matters of “National Security”. The FBI and DOJ, despite acknowledging in 2022 that there was no CLASSIFIED material in this purely civil matter, now assert “National Security” prevents the FBI’s actions from being reviewed by the courts. This allowed the FBI to extend national security protections to previously unclassified documents, order witnesses not to answer relevant questions, and otherwise use national security to conceal violations of law, frustrate and undermine open and fair civil court proceedings.

This years-long legal battle has cost my family several hundred thousand dollars in legal fees, lost income, damage to our health, and other expenses.

These costs are rising sharply as the FBI and DOJ continue to use their National Security powers to undermine the fair and open civil legal process. I now seek your support to prevent the FBI from concealing misconduct and help expose what happened to my family in hopes that others in the future will not share the same fate.