Patel and Bongino's choppy transition from roasting the FBI to running it
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Kash Patel and Dan Bongino spent years torching the American security state for concealing nefarious secrets about Jeffrey Epstein, Jan. 6, the "Russia hoax" and the assassination attempts against President Trump.
- Now they're not only inside the gates, they're in charge of the FBI — and serving a president who distrusts the bureau even more than they do.
The big picture: Patel and Bongino's recent Fox News interviews, and sources familiar with their reception inside the bureau, make clear the difficulties they face in maintaining confidence with three key audiences: their fans, their employees, and the president.
1. Some followers and fellow MAGA media figures who revered Patel and Bongino for pillorying the "Deep State" were aghast by their recent conspiracy-quashing comments, particularly that Epstein really killed himself.
- "People are pissed. They feel like Dan and Kash aren't doing the job, that they're beholden to some unseen powers," MAGA-aligned podcaster Tim Pool said Wednesday, adding that he "largely" still trusts the pair.
- Bongino — who left a lucrative podcasting gig to be Patel's deputy — told "Fox and Friends" he was finding it difficult not to be able to reveal information about ongoing investigations, and to be criticized by those who want to "divorce us from the people."
- He and Patel, who parlayed his reputation as one of Trump 1.0's most aggressive lieutenants into MAGA media stardom, have deep wells of goodwill from the base, despite the impatience for disclosures and deep state arrests.
2. The FBI's 38,000-strong workforce was never going to immediately embrace the idea of a couple of its biggest antagonists calling the shots, but it's been a tumultuous few months.
- Bureau veterans have privately mocked Bongino's emphasis on ideas like adding pull-ups to the fitness test and MMA-style training at Quantico.
- Some have pushed back on more substantive decisions, such as devoting scores of agents to partnering with ICE on immigration-related arrests, at the expense of other investigative priorities.
Patel told Fox News that rank-and-file FBI employees are on board with its mission, they're clearing out the old leadership, and recruiting is at a five-year high.
- FBI spokespeople have pushed back on stories about Patel working remotely from Las Vegas, taking government planes to visit his girlfriend in Nashville, or downsizing the early morning briefings that past directors have taken.
3. While Trump has been publicly supportive, he did say it was "a little bit hard to believe" assertions from Patel and other senior law enforcement figures that there was no wider conspiracy behind the assassination attempts against him.
- Democrats such as Sen. Dick Durbin have claimed that because loyalty to Trump earned Patel and Bongino theirs posts, they'll lack the independence of past directors and simply say what Trump wants to hear or tailor investigations to suit the White House.
What they're saying: "Many of these comments are from the same individuals responsible for the shameful politicization of the FBI in the first place. Their criticisms play no factor as we work to clean up the mess they helped leave behind," FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson told Axios.
- "FBI Director Patel and Deputy Director Bongino are doing an incredible job protecting the American people and bringing back law and order, justice and fairness to America," said White House spokesperson Harrison Fields.
Driving the news: Patel and Bongino acknowledged in their recent flurry of interviews that their supporters want them to clean house, lock up Trump antagonists like ex-director James Comey, and reveal more about the malfeasance they and their MAGA media colleagues have long alleged the FBI engaged in — including fomenting the Jan. 6 riot and conspiring against Trump.
- Bongino made a plea for time, suggesting the skullduggery ran so deep that it would take months to uncover.
- He also claimed they had just discovered bags of hidden files from the Comey era, and would be prioritizing cases like the discovery of cocaine in the Biden White House.
- Williamson said Patel and Bongino "have committed to working with Congress to provide the American people the accountable and transparent FBI they deserve," and are "grateful for our interagency partners and the leadership of this administration in that pursuit."
Zoom in: Bongino acknowledged the transition from flamethrower to G-man has been jarring. "Part of you dies a little bit when you see all this stuff from behind the scenes," he said on "Fox and Friends".
- He said a former listener told him "I miss you," and that he replied, "You know, I miss me too." He made clear he hates sitting in his FBI office all day and not being able to "swing back" at his critics.
- "It's difficult for me to not be able to respond like I used to, but there'll be a day, there'll be a day," Bongino said. "I'll be back one day."
Tal Axelrod contributed reporting.
