Dan Bongino leaving post as FBI deputy director next month
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino will be leaving his role in January, he announced in a social media post on Wednesday.
"I want to thank President Trump, AG Bondi, and Director Patel for the opportunity to serve with purpose," Bongino wrote in a post on X. "Most importantly, I want to thank you, my fellow Americans, for the privilege to serve you."
President Trump appeared to confirm Bongino's exit earlier Wednesday, telling reporters: "Dan did a great job. I think he wants to go back to his show."
FBI Director Kash Patel called Bongino "the best partner I could've asked for in helping restore this FBI," writing on X that he "not only completed his mission - he far exceeded it."
"We will miss him but I'm thankful he accepted the call to serve. Our country is better and safer for it," Patel wrote.
Attorney General Pam Bondi also thanked Bongino, writing on social media that "Americans are safer" because of his service.
The former Secret Service agent and conservative pundit's departure from the FBI ends a tumultuous tenure with the Bureau.
Bongino was named to his post in February by Mr. Trump, and helped oversee the firing of hundreds of career FBI personnel alongside FBI Director Patel.
In May, Bongino gave an interview to "Fox & Friends" where he spoke about the difficulties of adjusting to work at the Bureau.
"The biggest lifestyle change is family-wise," Bongino said. "It was a lot, and it's been tough on the family. People ask all the time, do you like it? No. I don't." At another time during the interview, Bongino said, "I gave up everything for this."
Over the summer, Bongino clashed with other Trump administration staffers over a Justice Department and FBI review of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.
As a political pundit, Bongino had pushed the government to release more evidence on Epstein and suggested a cover-up was afoot. But during his time atop the FBI, the agency's review found that Epstein had no "client list" and there was no evidence to support charges against others — findings that frustrated some Trump allies.
Sources told CBS News at the time that Bongino attended a White House meeting in July with Attorney General Bondi and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles focusing on the fallout of the review. That discussion resulted in a confrontation with Bondi, and at the time, Bongino was weighing whether to resign from his role.
Weeks later, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey was tapped by Mr. Trump to share the role of co-deputy director with Bongino.
Typically, the FBI deputy director role has been a career staffer at the Bureau, but neither of the Trump administration's selections for the role had a history with the FBI before being appointed.
In his role at the FBI, Bongino led a charge to reexamine unsolved high-profile cases, including the 2021 D.C pipe bombings. Earlier this month, the FBI arrested the man suspected of planting pipe bombs outside of the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee headquarters on Jan. 5, 2021. Investigators have not revealed a potential motive yet, and court proceedings in the case have just begun.
For years, Bongino spread a conspiracy theory that the act may have been an "inside job" and that the bombs were planted by federal law enforcement.