New FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino
US President Donald Trump has appointed podcaster and commentator Dan Bongino as deputy director of the FBI. Trump posted on social media that Bongino has "an incredible love and passion for our country" and that he will work under newly appointed FBI Director Kash Patel.
Bongino, 50, who has worked for the New York Police Department and the Secret Service, is a close Trump aide who has been spreading false claims about the 2020 election.
Bongino thanked Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and FBI Director Kash Patel for the new appointment, saying, "I am grateful to President Trump, Attorney General Bondi, and Director Patel."
The deputy director, who oversees all domestic and international operations, is typically a career agent with years of experience.
Bongino is the host of the daily podcast The Dan Bongino Show, whose Facebook posts often garner more attention than those on Fox News and CNN combined.
Friday's episode featured a segment about the FBI, in which he praised Patel and sought to allay Democrats' fears that the agency would be used to target Trump's enemies.
"I wish Patel was here for one reason, he was here to make the FBI great again," Bongino said. He's committed to fighting crime and that's all, calling his new boss the "change agent" the FBI needs.
"How amazing would it be to look back four years from now and see a good, high-quality, reformed FBI where there's no wake-up call culture and DEI, which is in the headlines, destroying your community by making big arrests of the real bad guys. How awesome would that be?"
Bongino's appointment comes amid a heated debate within the FBI after the Justice Department fired some top FBI officials and demanded the names of agents investigating the 2021 riots by Trump supporters at the U.S. Capitol.
Critics say it threatens the FBI's political independence. Both Bongino and Petty are seen as Trump loyalists. On his daily radio show Monday, Bongino expressed concerns about political bias in his content.
"We play different roles in our lives and each one requires different skills," he said. He later added: "We're going to rebuild trust in this institution. The FBI is the trust of the American people."
Bongino, who has run for Congress three times, hosted Trump on his podcast before last year's election. Episodes of his show last week featured titles like "Trump Keeps Delivering and the Libs Are Seething" and "The Only People Who Love Crime Are Criminals!!!".
He repeated Trump's false claim that he won the 2020 election and launched another conspiracy theory that the Joe Biden administration was behind the FBI's search of Trump's Florida home for classified documents.
"Everyone involved in this DOJ/FBI heinous act, from management to agents, should be fired immediately, as should the perpetrators," he said on X. In 2018, speaking about his career as a prominent conservative political commentator, Bongino said: "The Libs now own my life."
A combative personality, he is often seen taking revenge on Trump's opponents on X, including a long-standing feud with horror author Stephen King.
In his social media announcement, Trump said Bongino would leave the podcast to take on the FBI role. , the Senate confirmed Patel to lead the law enforcement agency, an agency he has long attacked.
He has denied any plans to seek political vendettas and has promised to "rebuild" the bureau. The FBI has 38,000 employees and a budget of more than $11 billion.
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