FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino isn't planning on returning to work for the rest of the month and reportedly plans to make his departure formal in the coming weeks.
The former Secret Service agent-turned-right-wing podcaster has quietly told confidants he will formally leave his post at the start of the new year and doesn't intend to return to headquarters for work, eight sources briefed on the matter told MS NOW.
"Bongino told his team and some senior FBI officials that he tentatively planned to announce his departure on Dec. 19, according to four people," the network reported. "Several people said some of Bongino’s personal effects have been cleared out of his office as of last week."
The deputy director has long been rumored to be eying an exit from the FBI, especially after staying out of the office for days after a clash with Attorney General Pam Bondi, and President Donald Trump appointed Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey to share some of Bongino's duties, and the White House is considering whether to elevate Bailey to replace embattled FBI Director Kash Patel.
“Agents are counting down the days,” one law enforcement source commented to MS NOW about Bongino’s pending departure.
Bongino has faced backlash after the Justice Department and FBI announced no further evidence would be released from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation despite conspiracy theories about the case that he spread on his podcast, and he never publicly renounced claims he had made about the Jan. 6 pipe bomb case that were refuted by the arrest of a suspect earlier this month.
MS NOW asked Bongino to confirm or deny reports of his departure, but he declined.
“Print whatever you’d like," he told the reporters. "No one believes you anyway. Thanks.”