(Ken Silva, Headline USA) After a roughly 10-month stint that left many of his supporters disappointed, Dan Bongino had his last day as FBI deputy director on Saturday.
“It was a busy last day on the job. This will be my last post on this account. Tomorrow I return to civilian life,” Bongino announced on Twitter/X. “It’s been an incredible year thanks to the leadership and decisiveness of President Trump. It was the honor of a lifetime to work with Director Patel, and to serve you, the American people. See you on the other side.”
It was a busy last day on the job. This will be my last post on this account.
Tomorrow I return to civilian life. It’s been an incredible year thanks to the leadership and decisiveness of President Trump.
It was the honor of a lifetime to work with Director Patel, and to serve… https://t.co/ETUqiYXvLH— Dan Bongino (@FBIDDBongino) January 4, 2026
Bongino has been rumored to be on his way out since former Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey was appointed as “co-deputy director” in August—the first time there have been co-deputy directors at the FBI in its entire history.
Salon reported last month that “Bongino’s office has been empty for ‘close to two weeks,’ indicating he has already left the agency.”
Bongino’s indicated that he’ll return to the media when he leaves the bureau. If so, he’ll have a lot of explaining to do for his failures.
In May, he falsely claimed that the FBI had video proving that deceased multimillionaire sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein killed himself. However, the DOJ Inspector General had already released a report stating that no such video footage exists—and indeed, the video released by the FBI this year didn’t even show Epstein’s cell.
Again, Bongino's claim is impossible. Epstein had three other inmates on his cell block, and the camera there wasn't recording. Even if no one came to kill Epstein from the outside, we can't rule out these other inmates.
This is from the DOJ-OIG: https://t.co/rsXD2YOFH9 pic.twitter.com/L5Fl29t8r4
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) May 30, 2025
Bongino also defended the FBI’s investigation into the July 2024 Trump assassination attempt, insisting that the would-be assassin acted alone and that the FBI acted properly by releasing his body for cremation and hosing down the AGR rooftop the day after the event. Bongino told the widow of the firefighter who died in the attempt, Helen Comperatore, that the FBI would be releasing more information on the event—but the bureau never did.
Most recently, Bongino has touted the arrest of an autistic black man in the Jan. 6 pipe bombs case, flip-flopping on his earlier remarks as a podcaster that the incident was an inside job.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
