In a surprising Sunday night decision, President Donald Trump appointed top-rated conservative radio host and former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino as deputy director of the FBI. Bongino, a 12-year veteran of the Secret Service, also served a stint as one of New York’s finest with the NYPD. Trump made the announcement on his Truth Social account.
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, by the man who will be the best ever Director, Kash Patel. Dan has a Masters Degree in Psychology from C.U.N.Y., and an MBA from Penn State,” Trump wrote. “He was a member of the New York Police Department (New York’s Finest!), a highly respected Special Agent with the United States Secret Service, and is now one of the most successful Podcasters in the Country, something he 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!”
Later, Trump added: “Another aspect of the life of Dan Bongino that I think is very important. He has a great wife, Paula, and two wonderful daughters who truly love their dad. What an incredible job Dan will do!!!” Bongino—host of the most popular conservative radio show and podcast—has long advocated for extensive reforms within the FBI and Secret Service.
Following the assassination attempt on President Trump in Butler, Pa., last July, Bongino testified before Congress about the security failures that led up to the incident and outlined strategies to address them. “The joke in the Secret Service, which is sadly no longer funny when I was there, and it wasn’t funny then either, is they rely on yesterday’s technology tomorrow,” Bongino told lawmakers.
“Everything from computer systems that waste agents’ times filling out time and attendance records they were doing” and “implementing slings – a technology as old as the wheel – about… five or six years into my time in the Secret Service,” he continued, a delay he called “embarrassing.” In addition, “the weaponry was old. Everything was old. These are things I would’ve talked about sooner if they didn’t create a security crisis.”
In a 2023 interview with Breitbart News, Bongino claimed that the bureau has been “burned to the ground” and has “disgraced itself” due to its involvement in partisan politics and the targeting of the political opponents of the Democratic Party. “This guy [then-FBI Director Christopher Wray] has been in charge with the targeting of pro-lifers, the targeting of Catholics, the targeting of parents at school boards, the SpyGate operation and the aftermath — what else do you need to hear with this guy? This guy has been a total train wreck,” he said.