This article may contain commentary
which reflects the author’s opinion.
Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino is expected to decide within the next few weeks whether he will remain at the bureau, according to two sources familiar with his deliberations. The sources told Fox News that reports claiming Bongino’s FBI office is empty are false.
They said, however, that Bongino’s departure remains a possibility, Fox News reported. A source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital that Bongino has not made a final decision about his future.
Bongino has faced mounting criticism in recent weeks alongside FBI Director Kash Patel.
Earlier this month, an alliance of active-duty and retired FBI personnel released a report describing the bureau as lacking direction under its new leadership.
Bongino and Patel rejected the report and defended reforms they said have improved accountability and public safety.
“When the director and I moved forward with these reforms, we expected some noise from the small circle of disgruntled former agents still loyal to the old Comey Wray model,” Bongino told Fox News at the time.
He said the bureau’s leadership is focused on results rather than internal opposition.
“Our responsibility is to the American people,” Bongino said, adding that the FBI has achieved tighter accountability, tougher performance standards, cost savings and a mission-first culture.
New York Post columnist and Fox News contributor Miranda Devine said last week that an internal 115-page report from active-duty and retired agents and analysts sharply criticized Patel and Bongino.
Bongino responded by accusing Devine of relying on what he described as gossip from former employees opposed to the bureau’s reform efforts.
“Miranda prefers the old guard,” Bongino wrote on X, saying the reforms will continue.
Weeks ago, it was reported that Bongino could soon leave his position following internal clashes with the Trump administration over the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, according to reporting by journalist Rachel Bade.
Bade said that Bongino has run afoul of senior officials over his response to the Epstein materials, though it remains unclear whether he would be fired or leave voluntarily.
According to Bade, Bongino’s conduct left “senior staff complaining that he put his personal reputation with MAGA World ahead of the team’s best interests.”
Bongino reportedly had a “fiery confrontation” with Attorney General Pam Bondi over the release of a Department of Justice and FBI memo stating there was no Epstein client list and no evidence that Epstein was blackmailing prominent individuals.
ABC News reported at the time that the memo contradicted long running speculation surrounding Epstein’s activities and death.
Axios reported this summer that Bongino was so upset by the dispute with Bondi that he failed to report to work, prompting speculation among colleagues that he may have quit.
Bongino, a former Secret Service agent, rose to prominence as a conservative media figure and podcaster, where he frequently promoted the conspiracy theory that Epstein was murdered in federal custody.
That claim was directly addressed and dismissed in the DOJ and FBI memo, which concluded that Epstein died by suicide while awaiting trial in a Manhattan jail in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges.
“Since then, it’s been sour grapes where he’s concerned in the West Wing,” Bade wrote. “The expectation is that he’ll leave eventually; one person told me he’s told others he won’t be in the job much longer.”
Congress overwhelmingly passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November 2025, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump.
Following the law’s enactment, U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman ruled Wednesday to unseal secret grand jury transcripts related to Epstein.
Two other federal judges earlier this month ordered the release of additional sealed materials tied to Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being convicted on five federal sex trafficking charges.
Maxwell has claimed that Trump was “not involved” in the sex trafficking activities.
Trump has repeatedly said he did nothing wrong.
