A former FBI analyst who claims he left the bureau in protest over Donald Trump and FBI Director Kash Patel is officially running for Congress.

John Sullivan, a 17-year veteran of the FBI, announced Tuesday that he’s mounting a primary challenge against Rep. Michael Lawler (R-NY), calling the New York Republican “Elon Musk’s favorite congressman” and accusing him of failing to stop Trump’s return to power.

In a campaign video posted to social media, Sullivan painted himself as a former intelligence insider turned political activist. “For 17 years, I served in secret, protecting us from threats like Russia, foreign terrorists, and drug cartels—and eventually, the insurrectionists who stormed our Capitol,” he said. “Now, I’m stepping out of the shadows to run for Congress.”

He described himself as a “dad, a husband, a public servant and a cancer survivor,” but spent much of the launch focused on his disgust with the Trump administration’s efforts to investigate January 6 and reform the bureau.

Sullivan claims he resigned in April after deciding he could no longer work under the Trump-appointed leadership team. “I saw the threat Donald Trump and Kash Patel are to American safety and security,” he wrote on X, linking to a resignation letter where he accused the former president of releasing “1,500 violent insurrectionists” back into communities.

That figure refers to Trump’s high-profile pardons of January 6 defendants during his second inaugural week—a move that caused panic among the FBI’s remaining Biden-era holdovers. “These threats are real,” Sullivan claimed, alleging that some recently released individuals had called agents’ homes to issue threats of revenge.

He called his work on January 6 prosecutions “one of my proudest moments in the FBI” and accused Kash Patel of turning the bureau into Trump’s “personal detective agency.”

The campaign video comes amid growing scrutiny of the FBI’s own conduct, particularly its handling of pro-life protesters, school board critics, and internal whistleblowers. Sullivan, however, framed his departure as a defense of American values against “radical” political interference.

The analyst’s résumé includes stints at the FBI’s Washington and New York field offices and later a promotion to Section Chief of the Intelligence Workforce Development Section at FBI headquarters.

His entrance into the race signals a broader left-wing effort to replace Republican lawmakers seen as too cozy with the Trump administration. Rep. Lawler, for his part, has not commented directly on the challenge but has supported many of Trump’s recent DOJ reforms and has appeared alongside Kash Patel at several campaign events.

As Trump’s administration continues its sweeping crackdown on lawlessness and bureaucratic overreach, Democrats are attempting to frame the reorganization of federal law enforcement as an abuse of power—despite widespread public support for reform.

For now, Sullivan’s announcement offers a window into the mindset of a deeply politicized intelligence apparatus that remains bitter over its loss of power. Whether voters in New York’s 17th District are buying what he’s selling is another question entirely.