Trump says he thinks Dan Bongino wants to leave FBI

President Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he believes FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino is leaving the FBI.

“Dan did a great job. I think he wants to go back to his show,” Mr. Trump said.

Before accepting the FBI job, Mr. Bongino was a popular radio host and podcaster. He had been a contributor on Fox News.

When asked if he had confidence in FBI Director Kash Patel, Mr. Trump said that he does. 

Two FBI sources familiar with the situation told The Washington Times that Mr. Bongino is considering departing the bureau within the next few weeks. He is considering stepping down from his FBI post in January.

“I’ve heard that he’s just disconnected with his staff … and hasn’t communicated with the FBI personnel,” one source told The Washington Times. “He’s more interested in being a social media personality than being the deputy director.”

Mr. Bongino, an ex-Secret Service agent, started actively positioning himself to leave five months ago, according to people familiar with the situation.

He began looking for an exit, they said, after a public blowup with Attorney General Pam Bondi over her handling of the Justice Department’s Epstein files.

“He actually went through the process of cleaning some of his office out. He wasn’t going to work,” a source said. “He didn’t want to be there. And then he started pushing the Jan. 6 pipe bomber case.”

Another FBI source said that some of Mr. Bongino’s FBI colleagues said he was a “bad match” for the job and that his office “has been essentially cleaned out.”

The Times reached out to Mr. Bongino for comment.

Speculation about Mr. Bongino’s departure was reported in July amid his clash with Ms. Bondi.

The talk of his exit became more intense when Mr. Trump appointed former Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey as the FBI’s co-deputy director in August. Mr. Bailey would only need to be on the job for 90 days from his appointment to qualify to be acting deputy director or acting director.

The deadline for making Mr. Bailey eligible for those posts just passed on Dec. 15.

Both Mr. Bongino and Mr. Patel have weathered repeated criticism of their leadership.

Earlier this month, a report from an alliance of active-duty and retired FBI personnel described the bureau as “rudderless,” to which Mr. Bongino lashed out at the New York Post for reporting the internal 115-page report as “attacking our reform agenda with gossipy anecdotes from disgruntled former employees.”