A prominent journalist was left stunned by Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino's shocking admissions during a recent interview on Fox News.
In a new column for The Atlantic, David Graham described Bongino's interview last Thursday with Fox News' Sean Hannity about the arrest of a suspect in the Jan. 6 pipe bombing case as an "awkward victory lap" that revealed something "astonishing" about Bongino's past life as a MAGA radio host and media personality.
Graham noted that Bongino was "one of the most prominent backers" of a claim that the government planted the pipe bomb to make President Donald Trump look bad. Hannity asked Bongino about those claims during the interview.
According to Graham, "Bongino's answer was astonishing."
“I was paid in the past, Sean, for my opinions, that’s clear, and one day I will be back in that space—but that’s not what I’m paid for now,” he said. “I’m paid to be your deputy director, and we base investigations on facts.”
Graham dissected the moment in his column.
"The problem here is not that Bongino is engaging in punditry," Graham wrote. "When properly done, pundits make arguments—like the one I am making here—based on facts and reasoning.Bongino, by his own account, was doing something else entirely: He was telling his audience that a claim (that the bombing was an inside job) was a fact, when it was not only not true but also not based on any real circumstantial evidence."
"No party has a monopoly on lying, but the right has an unusual habit of happily admitting to spreading nonsense," he continued, citing instances where right-wing media figures have misstated basic facts about abortion care.
"What is unusual about Bongino’s admission last week is that he made it on Fox News, where right-wing viewers could hear it," Graham added. "Then again, he didn’t seem too worried, given that he told Hannity he’d be back in his old role someday. When that day comes, everyone should know how seriously to take whatever he says."