Dan Bongino told listeners on his podcast over the weekend that Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) is “worried” about his future, just a day before the former Secret Service agentwas named deputy director of the FBI, leading many to believe his remarks were a cryptic warning of what’s to come for Schiff. In a direct message to the California Democrat, Bongino, 50, made it clear that he is not ready to “move on” from what he called the baseless Trump-Russia collusion hoax—an effort spearheaded by Schiff and other Trump opponents during the former president’s first term.
“Why is Adam Schiff so worried? I strongly encourage you to go back and take another look today at the Russia collusion hoax,” Bongino began during a segment. After remarking that the story is now several years old, Bongino added: “I’m gonna be straight with you. I don’t wanna move on.” Continuing, he said, “We had the FBI in conjunction with the Department of Justice, officials in Congress, foreign governments and intel people fabricate a story, invent a story that could have caused and done serious long-term harm to international relations with a nuclear-powered foe. It’s kind of a big freakin’ deal.”
“Listen to me — this is gonna be very important in the coming days,” he went on, perhaps dropping a hint that he was about to be appointed to the FBI. “I’m not letting this go. I wanna find out what happened because it can never happen again. Not to a Democrat. Not a Republican. Not to a Libertarian. Not to any United States citizen,” Bongino said.
“You do not get to alter or try to change the course of electoral politics by fabricating a story hijacking the justice system then to give the patina of truth to a fake story,” he continued. “You don’t get to do that. Why do I bring that up now? Because who was the ringmaster of that circus? Yes, Adam Schiff, and no, I’m not letting it go,” he added.
Dan Bongino shortly before being appointed deputy director of the FBI:
“This is gonna be very important in the coming days…”
“Why is Adam Schiff so worried? I strongly encourage you to go back and take another look today at the Russia collusion hoax.”
“I’m gonna be straight… pic.twitter.com/MnRaKxiIvW
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 24, 2025
In March 2017, Adam Schiff, then a congressman and the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, backed calls for an investigation into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russian agents. He claimed to have seen “more than circumstantial evidence” of collusion. Even after House Republicans, who controlled the chamber at the time, closed the investigation, Schiff was among a small group of Democrats who released a 21-page report outlining their plans to continue pursuing the probe.
The allegations that Trump’s campaign colluded with Russian sources to obtain damaging information on Hillary Clinton were definitively debunked in May 2023 with the release of Special Counsel John Durham’s report. Durham concluded that no evidence of coordination ever existed. He further stated that the FBI displayed a “lack of analytical rigor” in pursuing the baseless claims. His and previous investigations by the House also discovered that the infamous ‘Steele dossier’ was funded by Hillary’s campaign and funneled to then-FBI Director James Comey.