FBI Director Kash Patel, Deputy Director Dan Bongino, and Attorney General Pam Bondi are in a three-way MAGA mega-battle over the release of information (or lack thereof) pertaining to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“Releasing the Epstein files” was a campaign promise made by President Donald Trump, and backed by MAGA diehards, amid allegations of a major cover-up involving Epstein and the extremely wealthy individuals with whom he associated.
After it was revealed that Bongino—who climbed the MAGA ranks as a conspiracy theorist claiming a “Washington swamp” cover-up over Epstein—is reportedly considering resigning his position over a feud with Bondi, now it seems that Patel wants Bondi gone, too.
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Bongino has allegedly said it’s him or Bondi. According to sources speaking to The Daily Wire journalist Mary Margaret Olohan, Patel has threatened his own resignation if Bongino is forced out in his clash with Bondi.
Meanwhile, the White House is desperately trying to douse this MAGA inferno, with Deputy White House Press Secretary Harrison Fields telling Olohan that Trump has “assembled a highly qualified and experienced law and order team.” Their work is “being carried out seamlessly and with unity,” Fields wrote.
The wild flare-up has come in the wake of Bondi delivering a review on the Epstein case in which she effectively called case closed and told everyone there’s nothing to see here, folks.
The FBI and the DOJ concluded that there is no list of high-profile clients to investigate, and that Epstein died by suicide in his Manhattan jail cell in 2019. The announcement enraged right-wing conspiracy theorists, including Alex Jones, who have long touted Trump as the man to pull back the curtain on alleged sex trafficking rings in the halls of power.
Bongino in particular is demanding that the intelligence services reopen the case and unseal more classified documents relating to the disgraced financier.
The fury is not limited to the MAGA leaders, either. Fox News host Laura Ingraham asked a crowd at the conservative Turning Point Student Action Summit in Tampa, Florida, on Friday whether they were satisfied with the conclusion of the Epstein investigation. She was met with overwhelming boos and heckles.
Epstein is known to have associated with the now-president throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and the pair appear together in many photos from the period. When asked in 2024 whether he would release classified records pertaining to his old friend, Trump hedged, saying, “You don’t want to affect people’s lives if it’s phony stuff in there.”
Elon Musk, in his spectacular fallout with Trump, tweeted that the president had not released all the information as promised because Trump himself is in the files. Musk has since deleted the tweet, saying he went too far.
While no formal decision has been made, Bongino did not show up to work Friday. Reports are swirling that he may not be planning to return—unless Bondi is removed.
