CNN
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Dan Bongino, a former Secret Service agent turned right-wing podcaster, has been named the next deputy director of the FBI, President Donald Trump announced Sunday, the latest outsider media personality the president has chosen to be in a significant position of power overseeing large branches of complex government organizations.
The FBI deputy director traditionally is a position held by a career FBI agent. The choice of Bongino is a sign of the blowback toward the interim FBI leadership over its weeklong standoff with Emil Bove, the acting deputy attorney general, over his demand for names of FBI agents involved in the January 6, 2021, and Trump-related investigations.
Newly confirmed FBI Director Kash Patel had told allies initially that Robert Kissane, the acting deputy director, was the likely pick to keep the job until Kissane and Brian Driscoll, the then-FBI acting director before Patel was sworn in, resisted Bove’s demands, according to people briefed on the matter.
In a post on Truth Social on Sunday night, Trump touted Bongino as a patriot with “incredible love and passion for our Country” and highlighted his extensive background in law enforcement. He also noted that Bongino “is willing and prepared to give up” his popular daily radio show and podcast, “The Dan Bongino Show,” “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!” Trump added.
On Friday’s episode of his show, titled “The Golden Age Of Republican Politics, Bongino celebrated the confirmation of his new boss, Patel, saying, “We got Kash through, so now you are going to see what real change is like.”
At nearly the same time Trump posted on social media Sunday, the FBI Agents Association — an organization representing thousands of current and former federal agents — sent a mass email to members welcoming Patel as the new director and outlining the planned collaborative path ahead.
In its update to members obtained by CNN, the Agents Association said Patel recently agreed that the next FBI deputy director, who serves as the powerful chief operations officer in charge of the bureau’s approximately 38,000 employees, should be selected from within the ranks of the organization.
FBI officials noted that Patel made no mention of who his deputy would be during his first full day as director.
Following Patel’s Senate confirmation last week, Driscoll returned to his Newark, New Jersey, office and Kissane, the New York FBI counterterrorism chief, was away on a previously planned family vacation.
CNN’s Josh Campbell and Evan Perez contributed to this report.
