FBI Deputy Director Bongino Slams Media Lies About Director Patel, Details Crackdown on Illegal Alien Crime
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino has taken a firm stand against what he described as “entirely fabricated stories” targeting the Bureau’s reform efforts and its leadership under Director Kash Patel. In a Saturday update posted to X, Bongino not only defended Patel from salacious media rumors but also provided a hard-hitting overview of the FBI’s renewed mission under President Donald Trump.
Bongino began by confronting rumors circulating about Director Patel’s personal life—rumors that allege the FBI chief has been spending his nights partying in nightclubs. Without mincing words, Bongino dismissed these claims as coordinated smear efforts.
“I have no desire to sugarcoat this one – it’s been difficult in this new role to stay relatively quiet while certain elements of the media continue to entirely fabricate stories about what we’re doing at the FBI. But that’s part of the job as a public servant. I don’t work for myself anymore, I work for the public,” Bongino wrote.
Addressing the attacks head-on, he continued, “The Director’s office is attached to mine. I am in most of the briefings he is in. He spends anywhere between 10–12 hours in the office attending meetings with everyone from foreign heads of law enforcement to our counter-terror teams, and more. Any assertion otherwise is a verifiable lie designed to stop our reforms and fracture your trust. I will die on this hill. You are being clearly lied to by people with an agenda, and it’s not your agenda.”
Since being appointed the Bureau’s No. 2 official by President Trump, Bongino has wasted no time in taking action—focusing the agency’s efforts on national security, child protection, and restoring law and order.
“The workforce has been working overtime on task force operations to remove dangerous illegal aliens from the country. The work continues. The message is clear. If you came here illegally to prey on our citizens, your days here are numbered,” he stated. “These removal and incarceration operations will dramatically change the crime landscape in the country when combined with the administration’s laser-focus on sealing the border shut. Expect these operations to ramp up, not slow down.”
Bongino emphasized the agency’s zero-tolerance stance on crimes against children, highlighting a major national operation already underway.
“Crimes against children are a priority for the workforce. Operation ‘Restoring Justice,’ where we locked up child predators and 764 subjects, in every part of the country, is just the beginning. We are going to take your freedom if you take away a child’s innocence. Think twice if you’ve targeted children, because you’re next,” he declared.
Transparency also appears to be a cornerstone of the Bureau's new direction. Bongino reported that the FBI has rapidly responded to congressional requests and investigations regarding several critical incidents and scandals.
“We’re clearing information to Congress, and the public, as quickly as possible. In just the couple of months since we’ve sworn in we’ve responded to requests for information on the attack on Rep. Scalise and members of Congress, the Nashville attack, Crossfire Hurricane, the COVID cover-up and more,” Bongino wrote.
He also confirmed the FBI’s active collaboration with the DOJ on the Epstein investigation. “There are voluminous amounts of downloaded child sexual abuse material that we are dealing with,” he explained. “There are also victim’s statements that are entitled to specific protections. We need to do this correctly, but I do understand the public’s desire to get the information out there.”
In a nod to fiscal responsibility—another hallmark of President Trump’s America First leadership—Bongino assured the public that the Bureau is tightening internal controls and eliminating waste.
“We’re doing our best in the current budgetary environment to prioritize the mission, act as good fiscal stewards, find waste and inefficiencies, and to enact reforms while moving the FBI forward. It hasn’t been easy, but we’ll get it done,” he wrote. “We have weekly meetings where we meet with our CFO, and our new CIO and CTO team, and we go through budget items line by line. It’s your money, and it’s your FBI. We won’t forget that.”
Bongino closed with a commitment to transparency and accountability—principles too often lacking in Washington bureaucracy.
“Thanks for allowing me to communicate with you on this channel. Other things are happening as well, and they will become evident in the coming weeks and months. Keep watching us and holding us accountable,” he concluded.
With new leadership, renewed priorities, and a firm rejection of media disinformation, the FBI under President Trump appears committed to restoring public trust—and protecting American citizens from threats both foreign and domestic.