FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino can’t escape the shadow that is his agency’s fumbling of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, and on Friday, was promptly torched online for refusing to confront the very scandal he once fiercely promoted.
“When are we going to see child predators arrested that are in the Epstein files [you’re] covering up?” wrote X user “Middle 80 percent” Friday, who frequently shares content criticizing Republicans for their handling of the Epstein files to their hundreds of followers. “Crooked [and] dirty!”
Bongino announced Friday morning via a social media post on X the criminal sentencing of a State Department employee that had been indicted on charges stemming from selling classified documents to the Chinese government. Instead of praise, however, Bongino was met with a wave of criticism on Epstein, a scandal he has yet to move past from as the issue continues to dog the Trump administration, even among some of its most loyal supporters.
“When will you be holding the elite pedo establishment accountable?” wrote X user “Diligent Denizen,” a self-described “citizen journalist” with a strong following among conservative figures and more than 128,000 followers.
Prior to being tapped to serve in the Trump administration, Bongino aggressively pushed theories around Epstein, that the disgraced financier, who died in 2019 awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges, ran a blackmail operation targeting powerful figures. He said as recently as February that, regarding the Epstein theories, he was “not ever gonna let this story go.”
Bongino’s curiosity around Epstein came to a halt, however, after becoming one of the top FBI officials, who in June signed off on a memo that concluded Epstein had no “client list,” that he did, in fact, die by suicide, and that there would be no further investigation into the matter.
The subsequent fallout from the memo leaking was fierce, so fierce that it reportedly led to an explosive “face-to-face” showdown between Bongino and Attorney General Pam Bondi, one that led to Bongino ‘running out of D.C.’ one day to take off work.
Now, Bongino’s attempts to move past the matter are proving largely unsuccessful, as the top FBI official continues to be dogged online over Epstein.
“Remember when Dan [cried] over the Epstein victims on his podcast?” wrote X user “The Sarcastic Canuck,” who posts content mocking government policy decisions and has amassed more than 3,000 followers. “Now he catches shoplifters and pretends those little girls don't exist.”
Another X user, who frequently shares content critical of the Trump administration and has amassed more than 10,000 followers, issued Bongino a blunt request.
“About that update…release the complete Epstein files you vile pedophile protector,” the user wrote on X.
When will you be holding the elite pedo establishment accountable? pic.twitter.com/7SLL3FSFdD
— Diligent Denizen 🇺🇸 (@DiligentDenizen) September 5, 2025