Richard Jewel is instructive for the current case of the poll worker whistleblower (Richard Hopkins?) who was interviewed by the FBI who clearly tried to strong-arm him. The FBI persecutes good guys and protects bad guys.
“.... FBI who clearly tried to strong-arm him ....”
I think it was the Postal Inspectors who did the strong-arming. It’s their jurisdiction and they would get first crack at it. Now that Barr has cleared a way for more DOJ involvement (I hope that’s a good thing!) the FBI will be involved (for good or ill1).
Hopkins was interviewed by USPS interrogators.
I do concur with your analogy...