In his last podcast, right-wing provocateur Dan Bongino made a promise. Becoming deputy FBI director would require a stark change in approach after years as a pugilistic pundit. “I have to stay out of the political space because it’s the right thing to do and it’s the rules,.” he said. “I’m not going there to be some partisan.” His arrival on Monday will test that promise, cementing a major shift at the FBI, where he joins director Kash Patel in overseeing a bureau of 38,000 people. It puts two staunch Trump loyalists in charge of an agency long known for its tradition of independence. They have the least leadership experience of any pair overseeing the FBI since its founding more than a century ago, the New York Times reports. Selecting Bongino, whose experience in law enforcement dates from years ago when he served as a police officer and Secret Service agent, Patel is breaking from tradition and relying on someone who has little familiarity with the bureau’s inner workings. The past five deputy directors had spent an average of more than 20 years in the bureau. Bongino has never been an F.B.I. agent.
Bongino began his podcast in 2015, catapulting him to right-wing stardom during the 2020 election. Bongino frequently shared his disdain for the FBI on his podcast and radio show while praising the president. Bongino will replace Robert Kissane, who had more than two decades of experience as an agent and had been serving as acting deputy director. Patel told several hundred agents on temporary duty in Washington, D.C., to return to their home offices by the end of June, a potentially significant shift in ascending the ranks of the agency. Temporary assignments to headquarters are critical to getting promoted, providing agents with deep insights into the bureau’s abilities and reach. James Dennehy, the veteran agent in charge of the New York field office, was among about a dozen senior executives who have been pushed out. Some were agents with decades of experience who would have offered critical institutional expertise to Patel and Bongino. Patel’s unconventional approach has left former agents and analysts to wonder if he is up to the job.