FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino Says He Plans to Resign Next Month as Bureau’s No 2 Official

UNITED STATES – DECEMBER 4: FBI Director Kash Patel, left, and Dan Bongino, deputy director of the FBI, conduct a news conference at the Department of Justice on Thursday, December 4, 2025, announcing the arrest of Brian Cole Jr., who allegedly placed pipe bombs near the Republican and Democratic National Committee offices on January 6, 2021. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino says he’ll resign from the bureau next month, ending a brief tenure in which he clashed with the Justice Department over the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and was forced to reconcile the realities of his law enforcement job with provocative claims he made in his prior role as a popular podcast host. The departure, which had been expected, would be among the highest-profile resignations of the Trump administration. It comes as FBI leadership has been buffeted by criticism over Director Kash Patel’s use of a government plane for personal purposes and social media posts about active investigations.