The author served on Detroit Police Department as an investigator. He spent about 25 years on federal task forces. He retired in 2020.
By Ira Todd
There are few men in this business whose lives testify to courage, principle, and relentless dedication.
Christopher “Hat-Trick” Hess, who just retired from the FBI in Detroit as an assistant special agent in charge, is one of those men.
I stood shoulder to shoulder with him during Detroit’s darkest hours in the 1990s until around 2017 while working on the violent crime task force in multiple operations, in the high-stakes cases, and on what we called “APE’s” acute political emergencies in Detroit and throughout the country and on the rough streets where life and death decisions are made in a heartbeat.
In him, I saw what an FBI leader ought to be: fierce, humble, and just.
Chris never forgot where he came from. From one old street cop, born and bred in neighborhoods that many write off, to another: I watched him climb, not by shortcuts, not by political maneuvering, but by grit, sacrifice, and a refusal to bend.
He didn’t just become an FBI agent: he became a leader who earned respect from every local cop, every detective, every partner. He never carried that badge like a shield to hide behind; he carried it like a tool to serve, protect, and uplift. In all those years, he treated everyone with dignity, no one was beneath him. I watched him grow and listen to the cops who understood and respected the streets. That’s the kind of integrity many talk about, but few actually live.
Comey Charges
But as I reflect on that time, and on the many agents and people I worked with on our task force, I also feel a heavy weight of disappointment. Because the FBI I was assigned to and believed in is not the same Bureau we see today. Under the current administration, the Bureau is being pushed further toward politics, toward agendas that threaten the foundation of what law enforcement should be: impartial, unbowed, incorruptible.
And now comes the latest indignity: the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey. To witness a former director being charged under circumstances many believe were driven less by justice and more by political retribution is a stain on the reputation of the entire institution.
The charges against Comey accuse him of making false statements to Congress and obstruction related to his 2020 testimony.
But look at how it unfolded, top prosecutors in Virginia had doubts, resisted, and pushed back. Then those prosecutors were quietly replaced. A new U.S. attorney, Lindsey Halligan, with limited or no prosecutorial track record was installed. The timing is too convenient. Many see it not as a pursuit of truth but as a cry of vengeance. This isn’t how justice operates, this is how power weaponizes the law. The shame in that indictment runs deeper than just the man charged.
The author, Ira Todd
It reveals a Bureau and Justice Department drifting from its moorings, bending under political currents. Director Kash Patel’s era may carry its own ambitions and narratives, but what I fear is that many who carry that badge are being asked to serve politics more than justice.
Chris Hess is the antidote to all that. His career reminds us of what the Bureau was and what it must strive to be again.
He earned trust not by proximity to power, but by devotion to truth. He showed up in the trenches, not in press conferences. He understood that the badge is not a license to rule, it’s a vow to protect.
Never Compromising Integrity
So to Chris, I say: thank you. Thank you for being the standard, for never compromising, for showing all of us, local cops, federal agents, neighbors, that conviction still matters. Congratulations on your success, on your retirement, and on a legacy that cannot be undone by passing administrations or shifting winds.
I pray, with every fiber left in me, that the Bureau will return to that place of honor. May it rediscover its backbone, its heart, its respect for the rule of law above the rule of politics. And may the next generation of agents look at Chris Hess and finally understand: this is what integrity looks like.
This is your legacy, brother. This is your victory. Congratulations again from one brother who bleeds blue to another.
