Conservative podcaster Dan Bongino named deputy FBI director

President Donald Trump announced Sunday night he has named conservative podcaster Dan Bongino as the FBI’s new deputy director. Bongino has worked as a New York police officer and US Secret Service agent, but has no FBI experience.

Bongino is well-known in conservative media, thanks to credits like having hosted a Fox News show and contributed to conspiracy website InfoWars. (Another one-time Fox News presenter, Pete Hegseth, serves as the US Secretary of Defense.) He was also among the right-wing commentators whose popularity sparked a fight over Facebook’s CrowdTangle analytics tool, ultimately resulting in its shutdown. His outsized online influence saw him named one of the top election conspiracy “misinformation superspreaders” in research by global human rights group Avaaz, The New York Times reported in 2020.

The new acting director currently hosts Rumble podcast The Dan Bongino Show. Trump said in his Truth Social announcement that podcasting is “something he is willing and prepared to give up in order to serve.” On his podcast today, Bongino said he’s leaving the show, calling it “a lot to walk away from.”

Bongino wll serve under recently confirmed FBI director Kash Patel, who has previously published a list of “deep state” enemies and has vowed to “rebuild” the agency after his confirmation by the Senate. As BBC notes, Bongino’s appointment as deputy director requires no Senate confirmation.