FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino is back at work as President Donald Trump tries to stave off an ongoing MAGA revolt over the infamous “Epstein files.”
Bongino failed to show up to work on Friday and threatened to resign after clashing with Attorney General Pam Bondi in the White House over her handling of the case. Now, Bongino has reportedly returned to the bureau—but his long-term future in the Trump administration remains uncertain.
Administration insiders say the president is privately fuming that the man he handpicked to be second in charge at the FBI had set off a MAGA firestorm last week, which forced the president to launch a full-throated defense of Bondi as his top allies attempted to mediate.
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“What’s going on with my ‘boys’ and, in some cases, ‘gals?’ They’re all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB!” Trump wrote Saturday as some of his most ardent supporters demanded Bondi be fired.
“We’re on one Team, MAGA, and I don’t like what’s happening. We have a PERFECT Administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and ‘selfish people’ are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein,” he added.
The MAGA-verse has been calling for Bondi head after a July 6 memo from the Justice Department and FBI found that Epstein kept no “client list” and that he likely died by suicide, rather than being murdered, while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in 2019—the subject of whirling conspiracy theories among the president’s supporters. Bondi had said in February that the client list was “sitting on my desk” awaiting review.
The clash between Bondi and Bongino stemmed from the deputy director’s frustration that Bondi had overpromised but underdelivered on Epstein.
But things escalated in the White House last week when Bongino was reportedly confronted about the leaking of an article suggesting he and FBI Director Kash Patel actually wanted more information released on Epstein, but were held back. Bongino denied being the source of the information.
By Monday morning, after not turning up to work on Friday, it was unclear whether Bongino would return as the former podcaster considered his future if Bondi remains.
However, a few hours later, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN that he did show up.
Trump has said very little about Bongino as he tries to downplay the outrage within his base over the Epstein saga.
On Sunday, in an apparent sign of his support for Bondi, the Attorney General was one of several cabinet members sitting near Trump and his wife in a luxury box at a FIFA game in New Jersey.
House Democrat leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters on Monday that “this was a conspiracy that Donald Trump, Pam Bondi, and these MAGA extremists have been fanning the flames of for the last several years, and now the chickens are coming home to roost.”
In a bid to mitigate tensions and provide Trump’s base with the answers they are seeking, some are now calling on the president to appoint a special counsel to investigate the matter and release a full report to the public.
Conservative warriors such as Steve Bannon and Charlie Kirk have touted former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, whom Trump had originally nominated to be attorney general, as the preferred candidate.
But this would be a highly controversial choice given that a congressional ethics committee report released last year found he regularly paid women for sex; had sex with a 17-year-old; broke Florida’s statutory rape laws; and frequently used illegal drugs.
As MAGA acolytes demand answers, Jeffries signaled Monday that he may support congressional action to force the Trump administration’s hand on releasing Epstein documents.
“The American people deserve to know the truth,” Jeffries said. “If [the administration is] trying to hide something, as many of Donald Trump’s MAGA supporters apparently believe, then the Congress should actually work hard to try to uncover the truth for the American people.”
