Dan Bongino, a right-wing agitator, made a vow in the last few minutes of his podcast. After becoming famous as a boxing commentator for many years, he admitted that joining the FBI as its deputy director would necessitate a complete mindset shift.
“I have to stay out of the political space because it's the right thing to do and it's the rules,” he stated during his last broadcast on Friday. He said, "I'm not going there to be some partisan."
Joining the director, Kash Patel, in supervising a bureau of around 38,000 individuals, his Monday arrival as the F.B.I.'s second-in-command will put that commitment to the test and solidify a significant change at the country's foremost law enforcement agency. It takes over an agency that has always been respected for its autonomy and places two Trump loyalists in charge of it. When compared to other pairs of FBI directors from the agency's inception over a century ago, their combined lack of leadership experience is unprecedented.
Mr. Patel has already arched an eyebrow. He exercises with an F.B.I. personal trainer and has changed his mind about his promise to appoint a seasoned agent as his deputy. In his haste to reorganize the bureau, he has pushed to shift several positions away from the bureau's headquarters and decentralize command. He shot down a shaky idea in the right-wing media, which caused a flurry of headlines and some shock, and his F.B.I. director account on social media grew rapidly.
Mr. Patel is departing from the convention and relying on someone unfamiliar with the bureau's inner workings by choosing Mr. Bongino, who has experience in law enforcement from his years as a police officer and Secret Service agent. In fact, the five deputy directors who came before had all served for over twenty years on average. In contrast, Mr. Bongino has never worked for the FBI.
Beginning his podcast in 2015, Mr. Bongino became a right-wing celebrity during the 2020 race, best recognized for his high-octane conservative commentary. The Bongino family hails from Queens, New York, just like Mr. Patel and Mr. Trump.
In his podcast and radio show, Mr. Bongino repeatedly praised Mr. Trump while expressing his disgust for the F.B.I. Mr. Bongino had a malignant tumor removed in 2020, just before the election, and in an emotional farewell episode, he told how President Trump reached out to him. He went on to say that President Trump had contacted the hospital, "I was the president; COVID was going on," and that Trump had asked Mr. Bongino if he needed anything. "I am counting on you to rescue the nation," he said.
Robert C. Kissane, who has been an agent for over twenty years and has been acting deputy director, will be replaced by Mr. Bongino. New York is where Mr. Kissane is thought to be heading back.
Mr. Patel ordered the transfer of 1,500 agents and employees from the Washington region to field offices across the nation just hours after taking the oath of office last month, indicating his intention to radically reorganize the bureau. According to internal papers, he instructed several hundred temporary agents to return to their home offices by the end of June, which might be seen as a major change in his career trajectory within the agency. Agents gain invaluable insight into the scope and capabilities of the bureau during their temporary postings to headquarters, which are essential for advancement.
The high expense of moving makes it unlikely that Mr. Patel will be able to achieve his overarching objective.
Mr. Patel also changed the F.B.I.'s organizational chart last week; this change could make senior field agents independent of Mr. Bongino since they will no longer report to the deputy director. That was seen by several of the former agents as a good thing.
The agency is now without a head leader due to a succession of firings that began before Mr. Patel was even in office.
One of the approximately twelve top officials let go was James Dennehy, a veteran and well-regarded agent who oversaw the New York field office. Mr. Patel and Mr. Bongino would have benefited greatly from the institutional knowledge of some of the agents, who had decades of experience in the field. Mr. Patel plans to bring in a new group of top executives to oust some of them.
Simultaneously with Mr. Dennehy's forced termination, Mr. Patel sent a video message to his employees expressing his support for them.
Additionally, Mr. Patel dismissed the individuals with knowledge of the seventh floor's operations, including the director and deputy. He has a new executive secretary on staff who was formerly a concierge. Mr. Wray's executive secretary has extensive experience working for the Federal Bureau of Investigations and United States Customs and Border Protection.
Previous agents and analysts have questioned Mr. Patel's competence due to his unusual approach. During a videoconference with top agents, he expressed his desire for the F.B.I. to form a partnership with the popular mixed martial arts organization, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and mentioned his distaste for meetings and suits.
As part of what he has presented as an attempt at openness, he has extensively promoted the Federal Bureau of Investigations (F.B.I.) on social media, drawing attention to the agency's involvement in immigration arrests. The agency has ceased to be crooked since Mr. Patel assumed control on February 21, according to former and current agents who have laughed quietly about it.
Some current and former agents have questioned whether Mr. Patel is truly in control of the agency or if it is just operating on autopilot due to his handling of the position. Christopher A. Wray, who came before him, would frequently inquire, "Are you a plow horse or a show horse?"
To see the FBI's top tactical team, Mr. Patel dressed in camouflage and visited the March 7 graduation of a new class of agents in Quantico, Virginia. After that, he hopped on a plane to Sin City for a UFC fight, where Mr. Patel stated his intention to split his time. (The idea contradicts the government's policy of mandating that all workers be present at the office for at least five days each week.)
Pictured at ringside beside UFC president Dana White and manager Ali Abdelaziz in a social media post from the Las Vegas fight is Mr. Patel. After working as an informant for the NYPD and the FBI, Mr. Abdelaziz was eventually accused of lying. According to documents from the Police Department, he was cut off from the F.B.I. in New York after failing a polygraph test following a 2008 trip to Egypt. Sharing messages from Mr. Patel and uploading a photo of himself at Mr. Patel's confirmation hearing are just a few examples of how Mr. Abdelaziz flaunts his relationship with Mr. Patel on social media.
Some people have also praised Mr. Patel in other places. On March 6, he delivered a heartfelt statement at the State Department, pledging to do all in his ability to secure the release of American hostages held overseas. He emphasized that this was a major concern.
Surprisingly, after spending years criticizing the FBI, he has now come to defend them.
As part of the "F.B.I.'s renewed efforts to crack down on public corruption and deliver accountability for the American people," Mr. Patel lauded last week the bureau's arrest of a Customs and Border Protection official in Detroit.
However, the case had already been under investigation by F.B.I. investigators before Mr. Patel was appointed director. Indeed, agents were aware of a possible fraud plan involving the Federal Emergency Management Agency in April 2024, according to the criminal complaint.
Over the years, Mr. Patel has vehemently opposed the F.B.I.'s investigation of Mr. Trump.
Still, while he was in charge, he cleared the air over an F.B.I. operation involving a female undercover agent who, according to a whistleblower, had been plotting against Mr. Trump. The conservative news outlets used the information to their advantage, labeling it as a honey pot scheme.
On social media, Mr. Patel wasted little time denying the accusation: "A female agent was falsely referenced in the media this week as part of an alleged whistleblower disclosure— she was NOT a honeypot."
Mr. Patel's resistance was described as "rare and extraordinary" by one conservative news organization.
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