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Dan Bongino: From Secret Service Agent to Conspiracy-Peddling FBI Deputy Director

With conspiracy‑peddling allies turning on him over sealed Epstein files, Bongino who called FBI agents “thugs” now fights for his own survival inside the movement he radicalized

Dan Bongino

Dan Bongino is a former Fox News host and top-rating far-right podcaster who popularized conspiracy theories about the so-called “Deep State” and the “stolen” 2020 U.S. presidential election. He also encouraged the January 6, 2021, Capitol riots and spent years disputing the facts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures to combat it. Despite his long record of attacking the FBI — whose agents he repeatedly described as “thugs” — and calling for the bureau’s disbandment, Bongino was appointed Deputy Director by Donald Trump in 2025, under fellow conspiracy peddler and QAnon adherent Kash Patel.

Since his appointment, Bongino has come under pressure amid the Make America Great Again (MAGA) split with the Trump administration over its refusal to release the files on the convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Following a fierce argument at the White House with Attorney-General — and fellow ex-Fox identity — Pam Bondi over her reversal regarding the existence of an Epstein elite client list, in a memo that also confirmed Epstein died by suicide in jail in 2019, Bongino did not show up for work at the FBI on July 12. He reportedly fell out of communication with Justice Department and Administration officials in subsequent days. Bondi confronted Bongino over a NewsNation article stating that he and FBI Director Patel sought more information about the Epstein files but were blocked from accessing it, according to Axios. Bongino reportedly told Bondi he did not leak the information.

Bongino returned to work on Monday, July 14, amid rumors of resignation and reports of Trump’s fury. But his future at the bureau remains uncertain as the MAGA movement cannibalizes itself over the disgraced financier, who died in jail in 2019. Bongino, like many in the movement — including his supporter and Trump traveling companion Laura Loomer, a virulent conspiracy theorist and promoter of racist narratives, ex-Fox presenter Tucker Carlson, and leading Deep State proponents Benny Johnson and Alex Jones — has built a career on dark claims of a satanic cabal of Deep State operatives and Democrats running a pedophile ring linked to Epstein.

From NYPD to Secret Service

Bongino, 50, began his career as a New York Police Department officer before joining the Secret Service, where he served under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. After leaving federal service and running unsuccessfully for several Republican political offices, he spent years building a media empire founded on distrust, rage, and conspiracist claims about shadowy elites controlling the U.S. government and society.

He authored several books promoting the idea of a vast conspiracy against Trump, including Follow the Money: The Shocking Deep State Connections of the Anti-Trump Cabal and Exonerated: The Failed Takedown of President Donald Trump by the Swamp. In his narrative, the U.S. government is riddled with “deep state” operatives undermining Trump from within — a worldview overlapping with QAnon, whose followers Bongino has courted, and with conspiracy theories about Epstein, whose death Bongino has frequently implied was murder, not suicide.

Dan Bongino's Follow the Money

In a now-infamous 2018 segment on NRATV, Bongino declared, “My entire life right now is about owning the libs.” This phrase has become a rallying cry for his followers — and a stark warning to those concerned about federal law enforcement norms.

Journalist Evan Osnos, who profiled Bongino for The New Yorker, noted that Secret Service colleagues recalled him as competent and discreet, rarely discussing politics. However, after resigning in 2011, Bongino rapidly radicalized. Though he initially spoke respectfully of Obama, he later denounced the former president’s administration as “corrupt,” “divisive,” and emblematic of a sinister liberal machine.

After a series of unsuccessful runs for Congress, Bongino shifted to media and launched a podcast from his basement. Initially titled The Renegade Republican, the show quickly gained traction and was reportedly drawing millions of downloads by the fall of 2016.

In 2019, Bongino launched The Bongino Report, a staunchly pro-Trump news aggregation site intended as a hardline alternative to the Drudge Report. That same year, he became a regular contributor on Fox News. Following the death of conservative radio icon Rush Limbaugh in 2021, podcasting giant Cumulus Media tapped Bongino to fill the coveted time slot. He also began hosting Unfiltered, a Saturday night show on Fox, which he continued until 2023 when he left the network, citing a breakdown in contract renewal talks.

MAGA Media Star and Conspiracist

Bongino’s unyielding support for Trump and his readiness to amplify fringe theories propelled him into the MAGA media spotlight. On his show, he embraced conspiracy theories alleging FBI complicity in the January 6 Capitol attack; called for investigations and imprisonment of Obama and Joe Biden; and shared his personal belief in spiritual dimensions, describing some Democrats as possessed by “demonic forces.”

The Institute for Strategic Dialogue found in an investigation that he was one of the leading promoters of false claims about voter fraud in the lead-up to the 2020 U.S. presidential election. He was also identified by the human rights group Avaaz as one of the top five “superspreaders of election misinformation” for promoting Trump’s false claims that the election had been stolen. Ashli Babbitt, the Trump supporter killed during the Capitol riot, had retweeted Bongino 50 times in the year before her death.

In 2022, Bongino said on his show:

“The only thing that is going to stop the FBI from doing what they're doing now, which is become full-time activists and bouncers, in many cases, thugs for the Democrat party, is imposing real material losses on them. Fire everyone involved in this stuff. Everyone — no excuses. Disband the entity. It is the only way at this point.”

Bongino’s COVID-19 denialism was also flagrant. Despite being vaccinated, he protested Cumulus Media’s vaccine mandate and clashed with YouTube over misinformation, leading to a permanent ban in 2022. Google subsequently blocked advertising revenue on his website.

In May 2025, Bongino faced backlash within the MAGA movement when he appeared on Fox host Maria Bartiromo’s show, reluctantly acknowledging that Epstein died by suicide — contradicting the prevailing conspiracist narrative within his circle. He and Patel were accused of being “Deep State traitors” who had “made fools of themselves.”

Support and Uncertain Future

Bongino enjoys the backing of Laura Loomer, the virulent conspiracy theorist and promoter of racist narratives who is often credited with having Trump’s ear. During the July, 2025 Epstein files controversy, Loomer posted:

“I’m told Kash and Bongino are furious with Blondi [sic] and the blowback she has caused them with her lack of transparency. Kash Patel and Dan Bongino should call for Blondi’s public resignation today to save themselves and to also push for full transparency into the Epstein files. Someone needs to be fired for this. Giving Blondi courtesy to resign is more than she deserves.”

After days of bad headlines in July regarding MAGA divisions surrounding the Epstein files — and a “gibberish” Truth Social post demanding his supporters back Bondi and stop talking about Epstein — Trump told reporters he had spoken with Bongino and believed he would remain at the FBI.

“Dan Bongino is a very good guy. I’ve known him a long time. I’ve done his show many, many times. And he sounded terrific, actually. No, I think he’s in good shape.”

Yet U.S. media reports suggest Bongino’s hold on power is fragile.

Conspiracy theory expert and Conspiracy Watch contributor Mike Rothschild summed up Bongino’s dilemma:

“Bongino is a podcaster, not a law enforcement administrator. He made his career off conspiracy theories, then realized that actually enforcing the law isn’t about whatever you read on the internet being true.”

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Emma-Kate Symons
Emma-Kate Symons
Emma-Kate Symons is a Paris-based journalist and columnist who has been published in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, The Atlantic, The New European and Reuters. Educated at the University of Sydney and Columbia University, Emma-Kate has reported from all over Europe, as well as from New York, Washington, Manila, Bangkok and Canberra.
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