In a move cheered by the MAGA faithful but derided by critics, FBI Director Kash Patel picked Dan Bongino—a former New York City police officer and Secret Service agent turned Fox News and podcast host known for spreading right-wing conspiracy theories—as the agency’s deputy director.

In what he called “great news for Law Enforcement and American Justice,” U.S. President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social site to announce Patel’s selection of Bongino for the number two FBI post.

On Monday, Bongino said in a statement: “My career has always been about service. I’m here to work. I’m here to lead. And I’m here to ensure that America’s law enforcement institutions uphold the values and integrity they were built upon.”

Patel congratulated Bongino, whom he called a “warrior.”

“With Pam Bondi as our new attorney general, we are assembling a team focused on restoring public trust, upholding the rule of law, and ensuring justice is served,” Patel said on Monday.

The Bulwark reported Monday that the FBI Agents Association issued a memo implying that Patel broke a commitment he made to appoint “an on-board, active special agent” as deputy director, “as has been the case for 117 years.”

Critics lambasted Patel’s pick, with progressive podcast host David Paskman
writing on the Bluesky social media site, “We’re so screwed.”

Adam Goldman and Devlin Barrett
wrote in The New York Times: “The combination of Mr. Patel and Mr. Bongino will represent the least experienced leadership pair in the bureau’s history. It is also all but certain to prompt concerns about how the men, who have freely peddled misinformation and embraced partisan politics, will run an agency typically insulated from White House interference.”

Some critics
expressed fears that Trump will use Patel and Bongino to attack political opponents.

Others called Bongino a “grifter.”

Bongino worked as a New York police officer from 1995-99 and as a Secret Service agent from 1999-2011, leaving the agency to run for U.S. Senate—the first of three unsuccessful political campaigns.

After failing in politics, Bongino became a popular conspiracy theorist on social media and right-wing talk radio. In addition to hosting his own
Fox News program from 2021-23 and a podcast with millions of listeners, he has frequently appeared on Alex Jones’ Infowars fake news program. He also hosted a show on the National Rifle Association’s defunct online video channel.

Bongino is the author of more than half a dozen books, some of them promoting conspiracy theories about the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. He quickly became
one of the most strident purveyors of Trump’s “Big Lie” that the 2020 election was stolen by the so-called “deep state” and Democrats.

Since then, Bongino has used his platforms to amplify conspiracy theories and lies about topics including the January 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol insurrection and the Covid-19 pandemic. He was banned from both YouTube and Google’s ad service for spreading pandemic-related misinformation. In 2020,
The New York Times included him on its list of “misinformation superspreaders.”

At times, Bongino seemed to relish his notoriety, once
explaining that “my entire life right now is about owning the libs.”

Last year, the purportedly non-political appointee
ripped “scumbag commie libs,” the “biggest pussies I’ve ever seen,” in a vague threat posted on Elon Musk’s social media site X.