By Joshua Arnold

After nine months on the job, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino announced Wednesday that he “will be leaving my position with the FBI in January,” making his tenure the briefest of any deputy director since 1997. Bongino’s brief — and rocky — stint at the FBI serves to remind Americans not to judge public servants too harshly because, after all, governing is much more difficult than talking about government.

Before joining the Trump administration on March 17, Bongino hosted a popular podcast which often featured controversial takes on law enforcement issues.

For instance, on February 4, 2024, Bongino speculated about the FBI’s investigation into the planting of two pipe bombs at the RNC and DNC headquarters on January 6, 2021 (a day known better for another reason). “I believe it’s the biggest scandal of our time because there’s clearly a monster cover up going on,” he declared. “It’s clear to me that the FBI has to be lying about the story because there’s no way there was a bomb there. There’s simply no way a skilled DoD team and a canine dog misses it.”

Bongino’s comments were speculative in nature because, as a government outsider, he had no direct access to the case files that would allow him to verify his opinions.

On February 7, 2025, Bongino speculated over whether powerful people had colluded in a coverup in the case of convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. “The Jeffrey Epstein case, you do not know all the details of this thing, I promise. … The key part of that: the Ghislaine Maxwell black book. What names are in there, man? Do you understand how many powerful people just want this thing to desperately go away? How many people are connected to this Epstein sex tape operation?” he asked. “I’m not ever going to let this story go.”

By joining the FBI as deputy director, Bongino sat atop the law enforcement agency’s command structure. He now sat in the chain of command for all FBI field offices, all special bureaus, and all operations. In his new position, he had access to the official records he had speculated about for so long.

Yet those records did not necessarily gratify his former speculations. When the Trump administration published limited documentation related to the Epstein case in the spring, Bongino joined FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi in admitting there wasn’t much more to the story.

This outcome proved so unsatisfying to those who believed there was a cover-up that they simply believed officials had been co-opted into it. Facing criticism from the MAGA crowd could not have been a pleasant experience for Bongino.

“I was asked about some of the details surrounding the Jeffrey Epstein case,” Bongino wrote on May 18. “I have reviewed the case. Jeffrey Epstein killed himself. There’s no evidence in the case file indicating otherwise. I’m not asking you to believe me, or not. I’m telling you what exists, and what doesn’t. If new evidence surfaces I’m happy to reevaluate.”

On July 11, tensions over the Epstein rollout broke out into public view, after Bongino simply didn’t show up to work that day after an argument with Bondi. Some sources suggested at the time that Bongino’s departure was imminent. But he and Bondi managed to smooth over their tensions, such that Bongino stayed on the job another six months.

August brought another change, however, when Bondi and Patel appointed Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey ® to serve as co-deputy director alongside Bongino, the first time two FBI deputy directors have served concurrently in the 95-year history of the position. Did the job suddenly become too large for one man to handle?

Subsequent evidence suggests that Bailey was brought in to handle the day-to-day operations, while Bongino — who had always lacked experience in such a role — pursued certain special investigations, the topics that interested him in coming to the FBI to begin with.

In early December, Bongino did achieve a breakthrough on one such investigation, when the FBI finally identified and apprehended the man who planted the J6 pipe bombs. Only two weeks later, Bongino announced his decision to depart the FBI next month. At least he now has something to show for his efforts.

Bongino did not provide a reason for his coming departure, but his boss (or boss’s boss’s boss) did. “Dan did a great job,” President Trump said when asked by a reporter. “I think he wants to go back to his show.”

Bongino has not confirmed that this is his reason for resigning, but it would be a perfectly acceptable one. Like the president himself, Bongino clearly has a knack for entertaining, as the popularity of his podcast demonstrates. The role of FBI deputy director — a position usually filled by a senior career employee — does not provide much opportunity for entertaining an audience.

Bongino’s tenure highlights multiple ways in which governing is simply harder. His apparent dissatisfaction in the role serves as a reminder that government work is more boring and more difficult (or both) than outsiders think. His differences with Attorney General Bondi illustrate the added need for political tact to navigate differences in personality and policy. The criticism he faced from the MAGA base illustrate how governing officials face greater responsibility for their actions. And the shift in his public pronouncements illustrates how governing officials — because they have the facts — lose the liberty of wild speculation.

Because government work is quite difficult, it isn’t for everyone, and Bongino seems to have decided that it isn’t for him any longer.

This should be a reminder to Christians to think charitably about their governing officials in light of the hard tasks they perform, and in light of the fact that their hard tasks advance the public good. Instead of joining the chorus of critics, Christians are called to pray “for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Timothy 2:2).

Joshua Arnold is a senior writer at The Washington Stand.