The former deputy director of the FBI is worried ‘thugs’ will come after him after stepping down from the prestigious role, making him ‘live in fear.’
Dan Bongino took on the role in March 2025 under Director Kash Patel. He remained in the role for ten months before announcing he would be stepping down to return to his podcast.
Bongino was a controversial pick for the role, as it typically goes to a senior agent, and the Republican had no previous experience inside the FBI, an organization he had been critical of beforehand.
After he stepped down, President Donald Trump said: ‘Dan did a great job.’
Despite the badge of honor from the US leader, Bongino told Fox’s Sean Hannity on the journalist’s podcast that he’s terrified that ‘they’re going to come for me.’
‘I’m scared, man,’ he said on Hang Out with Sean Hannity during Tuesday’s episode. ‘I know what I did. And I’m proud of my work. And I am proud of what me and Kash [Patel] accomplished in the past year.’
Bongino insisted he and Patel did everything ‘by the book,’ including hiring an outside lawyer to oversee things.
But the former deputy director is convinced a Democratic administration would ‘rewrite the book, just like they did for President Trump,’ referencing when they charged the President after he left the White House.
Dan Bongino stepped down from his role as deputy director of the FBI in January. He now fears for his life that a Democratic administration would send ‘thugs’ after him
‘I know what I did. And I’m proud of my work. And I am proud of what me and Kash [Patel] accomplished in the past year,’ he said. ‘I’m terrified…They’re going to send some thugs to my house’
‘After reading what I read about how many people did this to President Trump, this Russia hoax, collusion, Crossfire Hurricane bulls**t, and not a single person stopped them,’ he said.
‘I’m terrified,’ he continued. ‘They’re going to send some thugs to my house.’
Bongino has previously referred to FBI agents as ‘thugs,’ but it is unclear who he is referencing here.
Crossfire Hurricane was an FBI investigation that linked Trump to the Russian interference in the 2016 election. The FBI became suspicious of Trump in 2017 after then-FBI Director James Comey raised questions about obstruction of justice, prompting an investigation.
Trump has called the investigation a ‘hoax’ and has often said negative things about Comey. The Trump Administration recently indicted Comey over a social media post where it claimed the lawyer threatened the President.
Comey had posted a photo of seashells with the numbers 86 and 47 in May 2025. The number 86 is a slang term for remove and Trump is the 47th president.
The former director also declared his innocence in an April 2026 video, saying: ‘I’m still not afraid and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary, so let’s go.’
Now, Bongino said he is ‘extremely concerned they are [going to] weaponize the justice system and start arresting people for jaywalking or mattress tag ripping. It worries me every day. I’d be lying to you if I said otherwise,’ he told Hannity.
Should ex-officials like Bongino fear political retaliation, or is that paranoia about justice?
He told Hannity that Democrats had previously rewritten history when they charged Trump after he left office after his first term
While in his FBI role, Bongino clashed with then-AG Pam Bondi over her handling of the Epstein files
In May 2025, Comey shared a post showing the number ‘8647’ written with seashells, which Trump has claimed was a direct threat against his life
‘I’m terrified that they’re just not going to do the right thing when they’re in charge,’ he said, referring to Democrats.
While in the role, Bongino, a former Secret Service agent, clashed with then-Attorney General Pam Bondi over the handling of the Epstein files, especially the supposed document that contained the sex trafficker’s client list.
Bondi and the Justice Department insisted the list did not exist and that Epstein died by suicide in his jail cell.
Bongino reportedly took a day off work to contemplate his future with the organization due to the clash, reports at the time said.
The security footage inside the jail on the night Epstein died was famously missing a minute of it, which Bongino was internally blamed for, Axios reported.
Bongino also took issue with Bondi’s overpromising when it came to the Epstein files, while saying he believes she underperformed the delivery.
