WASHINGTON β FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said Wednesday that he will resign from the bureau next month, ending a brief and tumultuous tenure in which he clashed with the Justice Department over the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and was forced to reconcile the realities of his law enforcement job with provocative claims he made in his prior role as a popular podcast host.
Dan Bongino, FBI deputy director, speaks Dec. 4 during a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington.
The departure would be among the highest-profile resignations of the Trump administration, coming as the firing of career agents has contributed to upheaval at the FBI and as Director Kash Patel faces continued criticism over his use of a government plane for personal purposes and social media posts about active investigations.
Bongino announced his departure, which was expected, in a post on X, the social media platform formerly called Twitter, in which he said he was grateful for the "opportunity to serve with purpose." He did not say precisely when in January he would leave or reveal his future plans.
"Dan did a great job," President Donald TrumpΒ said in response to a question earlier in the day about Bongino's fate. "I think he wants to go back to his show."
Bongino was always an unconventional pick for the No. 2 job at the FBI, a position that historically entailed oversight of the bureau's day-to-day operations and typically was held by a career agent. Though he previously worked as a New York City police officer and Secret Service agent, neither he nor Patel had any experience at the FBI before being picked for their jobs. Both came in pledging overhauls to an FBI they insisted was weaponized against Trump.
TrumpΒ installedΒ Bongino in the role in March by after Bongino spent years as a conservative podcast host who used his platform to rail against FBI leadership and encourage conspiracy theories related to the Epstein sex-trafficking case and pipe bombs discovered in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.
Once in the job, he used social media to communicate directly to Trump supporters restless over a perceived lack of action by the new FBI leadership to address their concerns. He reassured them the FBI under his watch was giving renewed attention to issues like the pipe bomb case, the leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion in 2022 and the discovery of cocaine in the White House during the Biden administration.
Yet he struggled to placate elements of Trump's base who expected him to quickly deliver the reform he long said was needed at the FBI and to uncover the truths he claimedΒ the federal government hid.
On the Epstein case, for instance, he previously challenged the official ruling that the wealthy financier took his own life in a New York jail soon after his 2019 arrest. But after his arrival in the bureau, BonginoΒ said in a Fox News interview: "I've seen the whole file. He killed himself."
Bongino speculated as recently as last year that the pipe bombs placed on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot were an "inside job," the truth shielded by a "massive cover-up." He was presented with those same comments when the FBI this month arrested a 30-year-old Virginia man with no evident connection to the federal government, prompting some to doubt that investigators arrested the right person.
"I was paid in the past, Sean, for my opinions, that's clear," Bongino said in a Fox News interview with Sean Hannity. "And one day, I'll be back in that space but that's not what I'm paid for now. I'm paid to be your deputy director and we base investigations on facts."
Questions about Bongino's future lingered for months, particularly after a tense exchange at the White House last July with Attorney General Pam Bondi after the FBI and Justice Department abruptly announced they would not release any additional records from the Epstein investigation.
After that encounter, Bongino, normally active on social media, went silent from his FBI account for several days. Far-right activist Laura Loomer, who is close to Trump, posted on X at the time that she was told Bongino was "seriously thinking about resigning" and took the day off to contemplate his future.
In August, the Trump administration took the unusual step of adding a co-deputy director, former Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey.
Photos from Epstein's estate
This undated photo released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee shows former President Bill Clinton, center, Ghislaine Maxwell, center right, and Jeffrey Epstein, right, with Clinton's signature at the top of the photo.Β
This undated, redacted photo released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee shows Donald Trump standing with a group of women.Β
This undated, redacted photo released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee shows Steve Bannon, left, talking with Jeffrey Epstein.Β
This undated photo released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee shows Steve Bannon and Jeffrey Epstein taking a photo together.Β
This undated photo released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee shows Jeffrey Epstein, left, with his lawyer Alan Dershowitz.Β
This undated photo released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee shows Dean Kamen, left, Jeffrey Epstein, center, and Richard Branson.Β
This undated photo released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee shows Larry Summers, left, his wife, Elisa New, center, and Woody Allen on an airplane.Β
