(NewsNation) — President Donald Trump announced that Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino will be leaving his post at the bureau and will be returning to his podcasting show.
“Dan did a great job. I think he wants to go back to his show,” Trump said of Bongino.
“I will be leaving my position with the FBI in January. I want to thank President Trump, AG Bondi, and Director Patel for the opportunity to serve with purpose. Most importantly, I want to thank you, my fellow Americans, for the privilege to serve you. God bless America, and all those who defend Her,” Bongino said in a post on X.
“No one is telling him to leave,” a source close to the White House with direct knowledge of the situation said. “President Trump likes Dan.”
The source added Bongino was at the FBI headquarters Wednesday.
With the upcoming midterms, the sources said Bongino would like to return to his Rumble show and that the “administration considers him an important voice” in the media.
Of the previously reported tension between the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI, a source close to the White House said the Jeffrey Epstein investigation fallout was tense, but they moved past it quickly.
After the DOJ and FBI issued a memo July 7 stating that after an “exhaustive review” into Epstein’s death, they did not find a “client list” in the evidence collected as part of the investigation, there was reported tension between the two law enforcement agencies.
On July 9, a source close to the White House told NewsNation that FBI Director Kash Patel and Bongino would unseal evidence related to the investigation of Epstein if their department could do so.
“I believe with full certainty that if Kash Patel and Dan Bongino had the power to operate separately from the DOJ, that they would have unsealed and released every single piece of evidence they could, while protecting victims, months ago,” the source close to the White House said.
That same month, Axios reported that Bongino threatened to quit during a contentious meeting after the memo was released.
The FBI did not respond to a request for comment at the time of this piece’s publication.