FBI Assistant Director Dan 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 wrote on her Substack, “The Inner Circle,” 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.
In September, Bongino dropped an alarming update on his official “X” account that appeared to suggest there is a massive and highly secretive level of corruption throughout the federal government.
In a lengthy post, Bongino said that what he’s seen “has shocked me down to my core,” adding that the way the country is currently being run isn’t sustainable.
“During my tenure here as the Deputy Director of the FBI, I have repeatedly relayed to you that things are happening that might not be immediately visible, but they are happening. The Director and I are committed to stamping out public corruption and the political weaponization of both law enforcement and intelligence operations,” the post begins. “It is a priority for us. But what I have learned in the course of our properly predicated and necessary investigations into these aforementioned matters, has shocked me down to my core. We cannot run a Republic like this. I’ll never be the same after learning what I’ve learned,” Bongino wrote.
He added: “We are going to conduct these righteous and proper investigations by the book and in accordance with the law. We are going to get the answers WE ALL DESERVE. As with any investigation, I cannot predict where it will land, but I can promise you an honest and dignified effort at truth. Not ‘my truth,’ or ‘your truth,’ but THE TRUTH,” he said.
