New details from inside the FBI are shedding light on what former deputy director Dan Bongino describes as a fractured agency, where trust was often uncertain and internal divisions ran deep.
According to Fox News, while speaking on the “Hang Out with Sean Hannity” podcast, Bongino reflected on his time working under FBI Director Kash Patel, portraying a bureau split into two very different camps.
“There were two FBIs trying to help you solve the A, B and C problems, and that’s FBI one and FBI two,” Bongino said in the episode released Tuesday.
He explained that one side of the agency was made up of agents he deeply respected — individuals he said he felt “honored” to work alongside. These included teams focused on violent crimes and child exploitation cases.
But, according to Bongino, there was another side he viewed far more critically.
“And then you had this other FBI,” Bongino said, adding, “which was populated with, to say, unfortunately, ‘snakes’ is being nice.”
The divide, he suggested, wasn’t always easy to identify. Bongino said both he and Patel struggled at times to determine who could be trusted, particularly early in their tenure.
“You’re trying to figure this out, and you’re asking someone for advice, you’ve only been there a couple weeks, and you don’t know if that person is part of the good FBI or the bad FBI,” Bongino said.
He described situations where recommendations from colleagues backfired.
“It happened a couple times where they’d say, ‘Oh, you can trust John Smith.’ And you trust John Smith, and then a week later you see a leak in the media and you’d be like, ‘I’m pretty sure that came from John Smith,’” he added.
In response, Bongino said he developed a strategy to identify potential leakers within the bureau. He would intentionally share a harmless, fabricated detail about his schedule and monitor whether it surfaced publicly.
“It was like we would play this little game,” Bongino said.
The approach, he indicated, sometimes helped pinpoint individuals responsible for unauthorized disclosures.
Bongino joined the FBI in March 2025 and served for nearly a year before departing in January 2026. At the time of his appointment, he pledged to restore confidence in the bureau and emphasized a commitment to transparency and accountability.
“My promise to you is that I will work tirelessly to help restore integrity, eliminate political bias, and ensure the FBI remains dedicated to its core mission of protecting the United States and upholding the Constitution,” Bongino continued at the time.
His recent remarks offer a candid look at the challenges he says he faced behind the scenes, highlighting concerns about internal trust and cohesion within one of the nation’s most prominent law enforcement agencies.
