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Dan Bongino has announced that he will step down from his role as deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in January, bringing an end to a brief but highly scrutinized tenure at the agency. Bongino confirmed his decision in a post on X, where he expressed gratitude to President Donald Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and FBI Director Kash Patel for the opportunity to serve. He did not give a specific reason for his departure.
Earlier the same day, President Trump publicly praised Bongino, saying he had done a great job in office and suggesting that he wished to return to his media career. Bongino was appointed to the deputy director position in February by Trump, a move that drew
widespread attention because the role had traditionally been filled by career FBI agents rather than political appointees or media figures.
Before joining the FBI, Bongino was best known as a conservative commentator and podcast host with a large national following. He previously worked as a New York City police officer and later served as a United States Secret Service agent, including an assignment protecting former President Barack Obama. Despite this law enforcement background, his lack of prior experience within the FBI itself made his appointment controversial.
The FBI Agents Association, which represents about fourteen thousand current and former agents, opposed Bongino’s selection at the time, citing concerns about professionalism and the importance of preserving the bureau’s tradition of internal leadership. Bongino was also known as a staunch ally of President Trump and had previously promoted disinformation and conspiracy theories related to Trump’s false claim that he won the twenty twenty presidential election.
One of the most notable examples involved the January sixth pipe bomb investigation. Prior to joining the FBI, Bongino had publicly referred to the case as an inside job. After assuming his leadership role, however, he made the investigation a priority, aligning with Attorney General Bondi’s view that the case had stalled for too long. Earlier this month, a man with no known ties to the government was arrested nearly six years after pipe bombs were found outside the national headquarters of the Republican and Democratic parties.
FBI Director Kash Patel praised Bongino’s work in a social media post, crediting him with pushing transparency and helping advance long unsolved cases. Patel said Bongino had exceeded expectations and delivered meaningful results during his time at the bureau.
Bongino also shifted his public stance on the death of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. As a commentator, he had questioned whether Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail cell in twenty nineteen. After reviewing the case as an FBI leader, Bongino later stated that Epstein had killed himself. In July, the Justice Department and the FBI released a memo confirming that conclusion and stating that Epstein did not have a so
called client list. The memo angered many Trump supporters and reportedly led to a tense meeting between Bongino and Bondi.
In a brief statement, Bondi said that Americans are safer because of Bongino’s service at the FBI. As Bongino prepares to leave government and potentially return to media, his tenure remains one of the most unusual and closely watched chapters in the bureau’s recent history.
