It's the fact that you can reduce my whole life to one word, whatever it is, my entire career, my service to my country, my academic rigor, my courage in going to interview terrorists, and refugee camps, and third-world prisons.

You can reclaim your own narrative.

Imagine what Ivanka Trump life has been like? She's been eaten alive by the media. I have empathy for that.

I had been sort of a rising star - an athlete, a scholar, a leader. My dream was to become a high-level national security adviser.

I want to serve. I love my country. I love service above self and I don't want my talents to go to waste. I also want to send a message to other men and women who've tripped over themselves, or over life: that you need to serve your time in purgatory.

When I fell, some people were in such shock that they didn't reach out. They were so mad at me, rather than having compassion for what happened. I lost a lot of friends.

My peers are all in sensitive jobs - at the C.I.A., the National Security Council, working for the Department of Defense. They can't stand up for me in public.