President Trump’s selection of Dan Bongino as deputy FBI director adds another conservative firebrand to the top of the agency, fueling concerns from Democrats the bureau will be politicized.
A former Secret Service agent and New York City police officer turned right-wing pundit, Bongino has bragged of “owning the libs,” recently suggested Trump should defy a court order and has called the agency he will soon help lead “irredeemably corrupt.”
In hiring Bongino, Trump tapped a second figure, after FBI Director Kash Patel, who has a lengthy history of controversial statements and little experience with the FBI.
The Trump administration also broke with the tradition of choosing among the department’s career ranks for the deputy director — the practice for more than 100 years and one Patel had recently committed to maintaining.
“I am proud to welcome Dan Bongino as the next Deputy Director of the FBI—a warrior and lifelong public servant. Dan has dedicated his career to protecting this country,” Patel wrote on the social platform X.
“His leadership, integrity, and deep commitment to justice make him the ideal choice to help lead the FBI at this critical time. He’s a cops cop.”
The role does not require Senate confirmation, but several Democrats nonetheless voiced their alarm.
“Selecting another right-wing Fox personality and internet troll — Dan Bongino — as Deputy FBI Director means two things,” Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) wrote on X.
“Trump installs another loyalist who won’t say no to any immoral or unethical act. And our law enforcement agencies — and the public safety — are further degraded.”
Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) called Bongino “a conspiracy theorist with zero FBI experience.”
Bongino ran for office several times before becoming a Fox News personality. More recently, he hosted his own show on the video platform Rumble. According to Media Matters for America’s Matthew Gertz, Bongino is the 20th former FOX News employee to join the administration.
As a broadcaster, Bongino threw a number of verbal bombs.
“My entire life right now is about owning the libs,” he said in 2018 amid the battle to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Earlier this month, he said Trump should defy a court order on the president’s federal grant funding freeze — putting the law enforcement officer at odds with the court system.
“Folks, my recommendation is Donald Trump should ignore this. This judge is obviously not acting constitutionally at all,” he said, complaining the judge was usurping executive authority.
Like others tapped for major roles in the administration, Bongino has also been highly critical of the investigation into Trump’s ties to Russia, as well as the criminal investigations of Trump.
In 2018, he called the Russia investigation an “obvious frame job and setup.”
Like Patel, he’s penned numerous books, including “Spygate: The Attempted Sabotage of Donald J. Trump,” which was billed as a “comprehensive story of how the Obama administration, Hillary Clinton campaign and foreign entities tried to sabotage the Trump campaign.”
He has also backed Trump’s claim the 2020 election was stolen, with Bongino at various turns pointing to “irregularities” or “unbelievably suspect behavior.”
Bongino was banned from YouTube for pushing COVID-19 disinformation. Bongino has also advocated for medical supplements, as has Patel, who last year promoted supplements to “reverse the vaxx n get healthy.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) called Bongino and Patel “grifters.”
“Kash Patel sells “K$SH” branded merch, vaccine reversal pills. Dan Bongino’s entire show is telling listeners the world is ending so they buy the dozens of survivalist products he sells,” he wrote on X.
Bongino has also been highly critical of several Republican senators.
Speaking on his program, “The Dan Bongino Show,” in 2021, Bongino slammed Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) as “a dreadful RINO [Republican in name only] senator” during a conversation with radio personality Moon Griffon about the bipartisan push for a $1 trillion infrastructure bill under former President Biden.
He last month called Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) the “most embarrassing member of the ‘Republican’ Senate” after she voted against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s nomination.
“This woman is a disgrace to humankind, and she’s a total fraud,” he wrote.
In announcing his pick, Trump said Bongino was “willing and prepared to give up” his media career to join the department.
Bongino’s announcement came shortly after the FBI Agents Association informed its members that Patel had committed earlier this year to looking within the ranks of the FBI to fill out the No. 2 role.
The message, obtained by The Hill, said the organization had stressed in a January meeting with Patel that the deputy director role should be filled by an agent “as has been the case for 117 years for many compelling reasons, including operational expertise and experience, as well as the trust of our Special Agent population.”
Patel during that meeting had agreed.
Bongino’s appointment also raises questions about what will happen to the two career officials that have been leading the agency during the transition.
Acting Director Brian Driscoll previously served as the head of the Newark Field Office, while Robert Kissane headed the counterterrorism division of the New York Field Office.
Both had initially rebuffed demands from the Justice Department to turn over the names of the thousands of FBI agents that worked on the investigations of the 1,500 people ultimately charged in connection with storming the Capitol.
That earned Driscoll a place in numerous FBI memes, including one depicting him as a saint.
For his part, Bongino pledged to back up agents.
“There are dedicated people in the FBI who take their oath to the constitution seriously. They deserve leadership that will back them up, protect their mission, and ensure they can do their jobs.” Bongino said in a statement.
“My career has always been about service. I’m here to work. I’m here to lead. And I’m here to ensure that America’s law enforcement institutions uphold the values and integrity they were built upon.”
