Daniel John Bongino (born December4, 1974) is an American government official,conservative political commentator, radio host, and former law enforcement officer who has served as the 20thdeputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) since 2025. He hostedThe Dan Bongino Show onRumble and previously hostedUnfiltered with Dan Bongino onFox News until April 2023.
Bongino began his career as aNew York City Police Department (NYPD) officer from 1995 to 1999 before serving as aU.S. Secret Service agent from 1999 to 2011. He later unsuccessfully ran for Congress three times as aRepublican. On February 23, 2025, PresidentDonald Trump announced that Bongino had been named the next deputy director of the FBI. He assumed office on March 17, after concluding his commentating roles on March 14.
Also in 2011,The Baltimore Sun reported that Bongino was the lead investigator of a car rental fraud scheme. His work contributed to two people being indicted on federalwire fraud charges.[8]
Bongino was criticized by former colleagues at the Secret Service for using his Secret Service background as part of his run for political office and for his claim of having secret information based on conversations he overheard in the Obama White House.[9][10][1] A former colleague criticized him for trying to use his proximity to President Barack Obama in his political career: "He's trying to draw attention to himself and he's hijacking the Secret Service brand. That's all he's got going for him." Bongino said he had access to "high-level discussions" in theWhite House.
He rejectedbirtherism, the claim that President Obama was born outside the United States.[11]
In December 2019, Bongino launched theBongino Report as an alternative to theDrudge Report, criticizing its founder,Matt Drudge, for allegedly shifting away from supportingDonald Trump.[16][17]
In October 2020Politico reported that Bongino's posts onFacebook were routinely among the most shared on the platform.[18]
Following theJanuary 6 United States Capitol attack, Bongino's Twitter account was temporarily suspended on January 7 for violating the platform's Civic Integrity policy. On his podcast, he argued that political violence had been normalized by leftist movements and accused liberal media outlets of hypocrisy in their coverage of protests.[19]
In March 2021,Cumulus Media signed Bongino to replaceThe Rush Limbaugh Show on its talk radio stations while continuing to carry his one-hour podcast.[20] In May of that year,Fox News announced he would hostUnfiltered with Dan Bongino, which premiered on June 5.[21] Between July and August 2021, he hostedCanceled in the USA, a five-partFox Nation series oncancel culture.[22]Talkers Magazine estimated his radio show had 8.5 million listeners as of October 2021, ranking second among programs competing to succeedLimbaugh.[23]
In January 2022,YouTube permanently banned Bongino for attempting to circumvent a temporary suspension related to a video questioning the efficacy of masks during theCOVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the ban, he had already moved his podcast toRumble.[24][25]
On December 11, 2022, Bongino announced plans to end his Cumulus radio show at the conclusion of his contract.[26] Cumulus began phasing his show out of its stations' lineups in June 2023.[27] However, in December 2023, he reversed course, securing a multi-year contract extension withWestwood One.[28]
On April 20, 2023, Bongino announced his departure from Fox News, citing failed contract negotiations.[29]
Conflict over COVID-19 vaccine mandates
On October 19, 2021, Bongino said that he opposed corporate vaccine mandates, although he said he was vaccinated. He called on his employer,Cumulus Media, to end their vaccine mandate, which had been announced in September. Unvaccinated employees at Cumulus had already been let go on October 11 and replaced.
"You can have me or the mandate. But you can't have both of us", Bongino said on his show.[30] After taking nearly two weeks off, he returned to announce he was negotiating his ultimatum with Cumulus,[31] and starting a fund for former employees of Cumulus fired because of the vaccination mandate.[32]
Brian Rosenwald, a talk radio historian, believed Bongino's request was never much of an ultimatum, seeing little reason for Cumulus or its host to sever ties. Rosenwald commented:[33]
I think it was a cynical ploy, to some extent. There was an incentive for him to stay with them because of that platform, and they've invested a lot of money in launching this show and building it up.
In a December 2021 interview withThe New Yorker, Bongino stated that he had been vaccinated for COVID-19, at the advice of his doctor due to hislymphoma.[34]
Bongino ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in Maryland in 2012.[35] Former gubernatorial candidateBrian Murphy was his campaign chairman.[6] Bongino won the Republicanprimary on April 3, 2012, with 33.8 percent of the vote, defeating nine other candidates. He lost the general election in a landslide, taking only 26.6% of the vote against incumbent DemocratBen Cardin in a three way election battle.[36]
Bongino ran for the U.S. House of Representatives seat fromMaryland's 6th Congressional District in the 2014 election against incumbent DemocratJohn Delaney. Bongino narrowly lost to Delaney by 1.5 percentage points. Bongino carried four of the district's five counties, but had a 20,500-vote deficit in the district's share ofMontgomery County in the outer suburbs of Washington.[37][38]
In an August 2016 interview with aPolitico reporter, Bongino went on a profanity-laced rant against a reporter who asked about a story in theNaples Daily News that Bongino said was dishonest.[42] The recorded phone call was published byPolitico.[43] He placed third in the August 2016 primary, losing the nomination to Rooney.[44]
On February 23, 2025, PresidentDonald Trump announced onTruth Social that Bongino would be the next deputy director of theFederal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).[45][46] Bongino took office on March 17.[47] Unlike the FBI director, the position of deputy director does not require Senate confirmation.[48]
In 2018, Bongino said, "My entire life right now is aboutowning the libs. That's it."[49][1][50] He is a supporter of president Donald Trump.[51][52]
According toMother Jones, Bongino is a member ofGroundswell, a group of conservative activists working to advance conservative causes.[53]
Bongino has called the investigation of possibleTrump-Russia collusion a "total scam",[54][55] and is a proponent of theSpygate conspiracy theory.[56][57] In May 2018, he was quoted by Trump in a tweet, as saying that former CIA DirectorJohn Brennan "has disgraced the entire Intelligence Community. He is the one man who is largely responsible for the destruction of American's faith in the Intelligence Community and in some people at the top of the FBI."[58] Bongino was also quoted as alleging that Brennan was "worried about staying out of jail".[58]
Bongino reportedly told the House Judiciary Committee during hearings onpolice brutality that efforts to reduce the funding of police departments were an "abomination" that should be dropped "before someone gets hurt".[61][62]
AfterJoe Biden won the 2020 election and Trump refused to concede, Bongino backed hisfalse claims of election fraud,[52][63][64] and claimed that Democrats had rigged the election.[65] He was listed among the top five "superspreaders of election misinformation" by the global activist groupAvaaz.[64]
Bongino has authored multiple books related to his career in law enforcement, politics, and support for Donald Trump.
His first book,Life Inside the Bubble, was published in 2013 and details his experiences as a Secret Service agent, including his work protecting Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, investigating federal crimes, and running for the U.S. Senate. In 2016, he releasedThe Fight: A Secret Service Agent's Inside Account of Security Failings and the Political Machine, which focuses on security issues and political corruption.[67]
In 2019, Bongino publishedSpygate: The Attempted Sabotage of Donald J. Trump, which promotes the Spygate conspiracy theory, alleging improper surveillance of Donald Trump's 2016 campaign.[68] Later that year, he releasedExonerated: The Failed Takedown of President Donald Trump by the Swamp, which was listed onThe New York Times Best Seller list with a dagger symbol, indicating bulk sales influenced its ranking.[69] In August 2020, Bongino denied that bulk purchases had contributed to the book's placement, stating that the only bulk sales event took place a month after it appeared on the list.[70]
Personal life
Bongino is married to Paula Andrea, née Martinez, who was born inColombia. They have two daughters. In 2012, he and his wife operated three home-based businesses, sellingmartial arts apparel,designing websites, and consulting on security and risk management.[71] While running for office in 2016, Bongino resisted talking about his business interests and said he and his wife had shut them down.[72]
Bongino announced in June 2020 that he had purchased an "ownership stake" of unspecified value inParler, analternative social media platform.[74][75][76]
Cancer diagnosis
On September 23, 2020, Bongino announced that a seven-centimetertumor had been found in his throat. He added that he was unsure if the tumor was cancerous or benign, but would fly toNew York on September 25 for further screening.[77] On October 2, he said that he had received a "bad phone call" from doctors, and announced that he would be undergoing surgery on October 7.[78]
Following his surgery, he tweeted that the "entire tumor" was removed from his neck, but that he likely hadlymphoma. He said he would receive treatment in the future.[79] On October 16, he confirmed that he received an official diagnosis ofHodgkin lymphoma, adding that he would be continuing treatment in consultation with his doctors.[80] In an interview in July 2021, Bongino said that he had "beaten" cancer.[81]
Electoral history
2016 Florida's 19th Congressional District Republican Primary[82]
Bongino, Dan (October 6, 2020).Follow the Money: The Shocking Deep State Connections of the Anti-Trump Cabal. New York:Post Hill Press.ISBN9781642936599.
Bongino, Dan (September 12, 2023).The Gift of Failure (And I'll rethink the title if this book fails!). New York:Post Hill Press (Liberatio Protocol).ISBN9798888450635.
^Bergengruen, Vera (April 19, 2019)."The Mueller Probe Made Them Famous. They Plan to Keep Cashing In".Time.Archived from the original on November 16, 2020. RetrievedMay 16, 2019.Dan Bongino, a former Secret Service agent and frequent Fox News commentator, parlayed his bombastic defense of Trump into a book: "Spygate: The Attempted Sabotage of Donald J. Trump."
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