FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino reportedly may resign over blowback to a Department of Justice memo that rebutted conspiracy theories surrounding the death of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Bongino did not go to work at FBI headquarters Friday, and an anonymous source told Axios that “he ain’t coming back.”
Bongino and FBI Director Kash Patel are reportedly at odds with Attorney General Pam Bondi over a DOJ memo concluding that Epstein had no “client list” implicating other influential people in his sex-trafficking schemes. The memo also affirmed that Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019.
Bondi, Bongino and Patel all amplified Epstein-related conspiracy theories before joining the Trump administration earlier this year.
Now, many of President Donald Trump’s supporters say all three officials are perpetuating a cover-up aimed at protecting powerful people supposedly implicated in Epstein’s illicit activities.
“The whole thing has been a complete mess, and no one is happy,” a person familiar with the matter who was granted anonymity told CNN.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche downplayed the dispute between Bondi and the FBI officials. On X, he said he worked closely with Bongino and Patel on the Epstein memo before its release Monday.
“All of us signed off on the contents of the memo and the conclusions stated in the memo,” Blanche wrote. “The suggestion by anyone that there was any daylight between the FBI and DOJ leadership on this memo’s composition and release is patently false.”
‘He killed himself’
Weeks after becoming attorney general, Bondi brought social media influencers affiliated with Trump’s Make America Great Again movement to the White House, where she presented them with binders of documents on the Epstein case. But many of the influencers complained that most of the material had already been made public, and they continued to promote claims that Epstein was murdered to keep him quiet.
Two weeks before President Trump chose him for the FBI’s No. 2 position in February, Bongino alleged on his podcast that influential figures such as former President Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, were “knee deep in involvement with Jeffrey Epstein and no one can figure out what the level of entanglement is.”
Then, in May, Bongino and Patel appeared together on Fox News, where they unequivocally asserted that Epstein’s death was a suicide, regardless of doubts they had expressed in the past.
“He killed himself,” Bongino said, adding, “I’ve seen the whole file. He killed himself.”
Monday’s memo from the DOJ supported that finding.
It said prosecutors “did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.” It added that “perpetuating unfounded theories” about Epstein would not serve justice or his victims.
The memo also said no further information on the case would be disclosed.
The conclusions infuriated some of Trump’s strongest supporters.
“We were all told more was coming,” far-right influencer Jack Posobiec wrote on X. “That answers were out there and would be provided. Incredible how utterly mismanaged this Epstein mess has been. And it didn’t have to be.”
Two days after the memo’s release, NewsNation reported that the FBI wanted to make more Epstein files public but had been overruled by the DOJ.
White House clash
The NewsNation report apparently led to a meeting at the White House on Wednesday, July 9, involving Bondi, Bongino, Patel and Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff.
Bondi and Wiles confronted the FBI officials over whether they were behind the news article, according to CNN, which cited multiple sources familiar with the meeting.
Bongino denied leaking to NewsNation and was visibly angry as he left the White House, Axios reported.
“Pam said her piece,” a source briefed on the meeting told Axios. “Dan said his piece. It didn’t end on friendly terms.”
Bongino – a former Secret Service agent who had never worked at the FBI before becoming its deputy director – did not go to his office Friday, according to multiple reports. CNN said he has told people he may quit. However, people familiar with the matter told CNN that Bongino had not made up his mind and could return to the FBI.
The clash between Bondi and Bongino has further agitated Trump supporters who believe Epstein was murdered.
Conservative influencer Laura Loomer – whose complaints about supposedly disloyal employees at the National Security Council reportedly led Trump to fire them earlier this year – wrote on X that Bondi “has brought total embarrassment to President Trump.”
Loomer asked Trump to fire Bondi and said Bongino and Patel should immediately publicly call for the attorney general’s resignation “to save themselves and to also push for full transparency into the Epstein files.”
“This is an issue the American people care deeply about,” Loomer said. “Someone needs to be fired for this.”
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Author: Alan Judd
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