Dan Bongino, former New York City police officer and right-wing pundit and podcaster, has been named the FBI’s new deputy director.
On Sunday, Feb, 23, President Donald Trump announced that Bongino, 50, will serve in the position alongside the newly confirmed FBI director Kash Patel. Neither leader has experience as an FBI agent.
Trump, 78, shared the news on Truth Social, writing, “Great news for Law Enforcement and American Justice! Dan Bongino, a man of incredible love and passion for our Country, has just been named the next deputy director of the FBI.”
The president called Bongino “a highly respected special agent” and “one of the most successful podcasters in the country [who is] willing and prepared to give up in order to serve.”
“Working with our great new United States Attorney General, Pam Bondi, and Director Patel, Fairness, Justice, Law and Order will be brought back to America, and quickly. Congratulations Dan!” Trump concluded.
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The role of deputy director, which oversees day-to-day operations, typically goes to a senior FBI agent with a proven track record at the agency. Unlike the role of FBI director, however, the decision does not require Senate confirmation.
Bongino ran for elected office three times. After failing to get into Congress, he launched his podcast The Dan Bongino Show and radio show in 2019, where he spoke of his support for Trump and spread misinformation on the 2020 election being stolen, among other political tirades, per The New York Times.
Bongino shared his reaction to the news in a statement posted on Instagram on Monday, Feb. 24.
“I’ve spent my life in public service, beginning with the NYPD and continuing through my time as a Secret Service agent, working under both Republican and Democrat administrations,” he said.
“…This role is not about politics. It is about professionalism, leadership, and accountability. 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.”
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Bongino’s appointment as FBI deputy director was shared the same day the FBI Agents Association reported that FBI Director Patel, 44, “had privately acknowledged that the next deputy director should be an F.B.I. agent,” according to the Times.
Before the announcement, Patel shared with allies that Robert Kissane, the acting FBI deputy director, was expected to remain in the position, CNN reported.
The plan seemingly changed after Kissane resisted the Justice Department’s demand to provide names of FBI agents linked to the investigations surrounding Trump and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
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Amid his frustration during Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings in 2018, Bongino said, “My entire life right now is about owning the libs … because they have shown themselves through this Kavanaugh abomination of a process to be — I’m talking about the libs on Capitol Hill and sadly some of these radical groups — to be pure unadulterated evil what they did to this guy.”
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