Dan Bongino's yearslong history of FBI criticism and conspiracy theories
Dan Bongino, the conservative podcaster named deputy director of the FBI, has spent the past seven years publicly criticizing the agency he will now help run.
Dan Bongino, the conservative podcaster named deputy director of the FBI, has spent the past seven years publicly criticizing the agency he will now help run, pushing conspiracy theories about corrupt FBI leadership and agents who were out to get President Donald Trump.
A survey of Bongino’s podcast transcripts by NBC News from 2017 to 2025 found that he made the FBI a regular target on his show, routinely claiming that the bureau colluded with the so-called deep state, an alleged shadowy network of entrenched federal and military operatives. Those themes figured heavily on “The Dan Bongino Show,” a syndicated radio show and daily podcast that is among the most popular in the U.S.
Along the way, Bongino has gone from a relatively unknown conservative pundit to one of the most followed and recognizable pro-Trump voices in all of media, commanding an audience of millions across various platforms.
“The FBI has totally and completely failed America,” Bongino said in a June 2024 episode of his podcast, a sentiment typical of his attacks on the bureau. “It kills me to have to tell you that you can’t trust these people, you cannot.”
Bongino has also espoused an extreme view on the law and power, saying in May 2024: “Power. That is all that matters,” as part of a critique of the Biden administration’s effort to forgive student loans before going on to laugh at the idea of checks and balances in the government. “That’s a good one. That’s really funny.”
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