An FBI whistleblower testified Thursday that the government agency, in an unthinkable act of cruelty, literally left him and his family out in the cold.

Testifying Thursday during the House Judiciary Committee's investigation on weaponization of the bureau, Garrett O'Boyle described the ordeal he and his family were put through.

"The FBI allowed me to accept orders to a new position halfway across the country. They allowed us to sell my family's home. They ordered me to report to the new unit when our youngest daughter was 2 weeks old.

"Then, on my first day on the new assignment, they suspended me, rendering my family homeless," he told the committee.

As if that wasn't enough hardship to inflict, O'Boyle added that the FBI then "refused to release our goods, including our clothes, for weeks."

With his paycheck and health benefits suspended and no access to any of their possessions, they were "stranded" in Wisconsin with winter fast approaching, and were forced to turn to family and accept charity for necessities like clothing.

"It was horrible," O'Boyle told panel member Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida. "It was a difficult time."

FBI whistleblower shares heartbreaking story of how the FBI moved his family across the country and held their possessions for six weeks without pay or health insurance. pic.twitter.com/BfiD1kvnq5

— MRCTV (@mrctv) May 18, 2023

That, he said, was just one example of what the agency has done to silence anyone who might be tempted to speak out.

O'Boyle told lawmakers, "The FBI will crush you. This government will crush you and your family if you try to expose the truth about things they are doing that are wrong."

FBI Whistleblower Garret O'Boyle, whose family had to beg for clothes after exposing corruption at the FBI: "The FBI will crush you. This government will crush you and your family if you try to expose the truth about things they are doing that are wrong." pic.twitter.com/NfJCbLVOrK

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) May 18, 2023

O'Boyle said he served in the Army and as a police officer before joining the FBI.

He said he viewed becoming an FBI special agent as "the pinnacle of law enforcement and a way to continue to serve this nation and protect and defend the Constitution."

Despite receiving "the highest annual review an employee can receive," winning an award for his work and being selected for the FBI SWAT team, O'Boyle said, "I've been smeared as a malcontent and subpar FBI employee" since speaking up about what he sees as weaponization of the agency.

The harsh FBI tactics are apparently very effective in preventing most people from coming forward to speak up about what they know is wrong, O'Boyle said.

"Despite our oath to uphold the Constitution, too many in the FBI aren't willing to sacrifice for the hard right over the easy wrong.

"They see what becomes of whistleblowers -- how the FBI destroys their careers, suspends them under false pretenses, takes their security clearances and pay with no true options for real recourse or remedy.

"This is by design. It creates an Orwellian atmosphere that silences opposition and discussion.

"We know what is right to do, yet we too often refuse to do what is right, because of the difficulty and suffering it incurs."

O'Boyle recognized that there would be consequences, but he said, "I couldn't knowingly continue on this path silently without speaking out against the weaponization I witnessed, even if it meant losing my job, my career, my livelihood, my family's home and now my anonymity."

"I'm sad, I'm disappointed and I'm angry that I have to be here to testify about the weaponization of the FBI and DOJ -- weaponization against not only its own employees, but against those institutions and individuals that are supposed to protect the American people," he said.

"I'm here today because, even though I am wrongfully suspended from the FBI, I remain duty-bound to the American people to play my small role in rectifying these issues. After all, I never swore an oath to the FBI. I swore an oath to the Constitution."

O'Boyle emphasized that he has no problem laying down his life to fulfill his oath to protect and defend the Constitution.

"My oath, however, did not include sacrificing the hopes, dreams, and livelihood of my family -- my strong, beautiful and courageous wife and our four sweet and beautiful daughters, who have endured this process along with me."

Despite all he has been through, O'Boyle said he is not ready to give up.

"All I wanted to do was serve my country by stopping bad guys and protecting the innocent," he said.

"To my chagrin, bad guys have begun running parts of the government, making it difficult to continue to serve this nation and protect the innocent.

"But I, for one, will never stop trying, and I'll never forget my oath."

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.