Substack is the best place to read this is where updates are posted throughout the day (here).
Today I am writing about Dan Bongino, however if you click 1 on the left it will take you to the bottom of the page for my reaction to various other stories.1
This Substack is a deeper look at the article from RawStory “‘He’s dangerous to them”: Trump reportedly scrambling to ‘muzzle’ a rouge FBI official.” This isn’t just any FBI official. He is second in command and is someone most Amercians have heard of and who is identifiable to them. It’s this guy:
Here’s a recent NBC News article about him:
The FBI created a multiagency team to protect him when he took the job as the number two man at the FBI.
Like Pete Hegseth, the man had previous jobs that once required carrying guns. He no longer carries a gun because he opted out to meet the FBI requirements for doing so. However he is the boss of all the agents who do carry guns.
He used to carry a gun since he was once a Secret Service agent and a New York City police officer. Then, like Hegseth, he went on to have a career in broadcasting.
Also, like Hegseth, he has some bulging biceps and a buff body which he liked to show off.
This is what he posted on X in April:
Headed back to DC today after spending a day back home with my wife and daughter. As I dive back into work, I want to reassure you that nothing that is happening here is happening by accident. Because of the sensitivity of what the FBI deals with, both the Director and I have to be circumspect in what we can make public. Bad guys read this stuff too. Neither one of us came here to play games. Measure us by results. You will see them. But just because you don’t see something happening right this second, doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. I’ll conclude by stating that not every result is going to please everyone. That’s just pandering, it’s not leadership. Complex problems require diligence and a reform-oriented process to create lasting changes. Or else you’re simply putting a bandage on a gushing wound. Let’s do it right. God bless America, and all those who defend Her. -Dan
Below is his followup post:
I’d like to add this: Your comments and criticisms are not only welcome, but they’re helpful. We work for you, the American people. Your feedback is invaluable. All I ask is that you consider the following feedback to the feedback. When you see something happen, and the entire story isn’t public, and the underlying facts aren’t all public, it may appear counterintuitive to our reform agenda. I promise you, it’s not an accident. Ask yourself, why I would sign on to something like this otherwise. Is it a desire to be wealthy, famous, “connected,” or to be a future lobbyist? If that sounds ridiculous, it’s because it is. I realized when I signed up that I’d never be able to fully explain some decisions we make due to legal and ethical constraints. But that’s a pill I agreed to swallow when I swore in. In conclusion, I realize asking you to “trust me” is a waste of time. Watch what happens, continue to demand results, be cautious of narrative “traps,” let time put the puzzle pieces together, and what we’re doing will make sense. I see and hear you and your feedback. Thanks for your time. -Dan
This strikes me as something quite a bit different that what we see coming from the typical Trump toady, but then again I am always skeptical about such missives coming from anyone in Trumpworld.
Now we have a story from Lev Parnas that suggests Dan Bongino may turn out to be the Serpico of, not the law enforcment agency he works for, but of the entire Trump criminal enterprise (my comparison, not his).
In his Substack (here) he begins:
They talk about the dinner. They talk about the people who were supposed to be there. They talk about what was likely discussed. But not a single outlet, not one reporter, is talking about the name that wasn’t there. The name that matters most.
Dan Bongino.
Because what I’m telling you now, is that this dinner—this meeting Todd Blanche was supposed to lead at J.D. Vance’s residence—was never just about Epstein. It was about Dan. About bringing him to heel. About getting him in line. And when that dinner got exposed and canceled, the conversation didn’t go away. It just moved behind closed doors.
According to my sources, that conversation happened yesterday at the White House. Kash Patel sat down with Pam Bondi in private. The topic? Bongino. The rift. The refusal. The threat.
This is a follow-up to what Parnas Substacked on Aug. 6 (here):
This Substack begins:
My sources tell me that due to the mounting media scrutiny—especially after we broke the story—the original dinner was scrapped and moved off the books. Instead, quiet meetings were held at the White House, and high-level conversations took place behind closed doors. But here’s the part the media missed while chasing what we already exposed: Dan Bongino the one man in Trump’s inner circle who has refused to play along with the Epstein cover-up, was never going to attend. And that was a major point of discussion in those meetings. The tension between Bongino and Trump’s loyalists—especially Bondi—is real. And Trump knows it. They’re trying to hold the narrative together, but Bongino is the crack they can’t control.
Bongino, I’m told, is not playing ball. He’s defiant. He’s seen the files, read the transcripts, and knows the truth about Epstein. The documents. The flight logs. The dirty connections. And he wants no part of the cover-up Trump is orchestrating now. That’s why there’s tension inside the walls of Trump’s DOJ. And that’s why, according to my sources, part of these conversations were spent trying to broker peace between Bongino and Bondi— Kash Patel was acting as Bongino’s proxy. Think about that.
This is one of the darkest scandals this country has ever seen.
I know it is wishful thinking when I wonder whether Bongino could have the guts and integrity to actually live up to the oath he swore. Could he be a modern day Serpico? If so, he’d be different from Frank Serpico (Wikipedia) who as a police detective exposed widespread racketeering and corruption in the New York City Police Department. Bongino wouldn’t be exposing corruption in the FBI. If he became a whistleblower like Serpico he would be exposing the corruption and ciminality of Donald Trump and his henchmen (and henchwomen).
Afterthought:
More a more apt comparison than Bongino becoming Trump’s Serpico is him becoming Trump’s John Dean.
Below: The real life Serpico and as depcited by Al Pacino in the movie:
