FBI director Dan Bongino reportedly eyeing resignation

By Kristen Holmes Kaitlan Collins Hannah Rabinowitz and Evan Perez CNN CNN Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino has reported people he is considering resigning amid a major clash between the FBI and Justice Department over the continued fallout from the release of the Jeffrey Epstein memo sources familiar with the matter notified CNN This comes after a heated confrontation with Attorney General Pam Bondi over the handling of the event earlier this week The infighting over the development came to a head during a Wednesday meeting which included Bongino Bondi FBI Director Kash Patel and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles the sources stated Bongino and Patel were confronted about whether they were behind a story that declared the FBI wished more information circulated but was ultimately stymied by the Department of Justice they noted Related Articles Who will and won t benefit from the bigger SALT deduction Trump to host Philippine president to discuss arrangement and defense in Asia States scramble to shield hospitals from GOP Medicaid cuts What are the medical impacts of Trump s big beautiful bill on Santa Clara County residents Binance aided Trump family s crypto firm before founder Changpeng Zhao sought pardon Bongino denied leaking that notion to NewsNation which published the story a source familiar with the matter recounted CNN though he did not sign on to a comment defending the review included in that article CNN has reached out to Bongino and the FBI for comment The sources cautioned that Bongino had not made up his mind and it was accomplishable he would stay in his position Axios first published selected of the details of Bongino s confrontation at the White House The episode comes as multiple of President Donald Trump s close advisers both inside and outside of the White House have grown increasingly frustrated with Bondi s handling of the so-called Epstein files following days of intense criticism from a few of the president s most of devoted supporters Multiple sources declared Bongino did not come to work Friday fueling speculation he had quit over the issue One of those sources explained that as of Friday afternoon he had not left his position The whole thing has been a complete mess and no one is happy a source briefed on the matter communicated CNN Epstein is a disgraced financier and convicted sex offender whose criminal episode has long captured key constituents attention in part because of his ties to wealthy and high-profile people In August while he was awaiting trial in a federal criminal scenario Epstein was detected unresponsive in his cell at New York s Metropolitan Correctional Center He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead His death was ruled a suicide The death though was heavily scrutinized and during his campaign Trump mentioned that he would consider releasing additional governing body files on the situation A great number of of the president s supporters hoped that release would implicate other high-profile figures or undercut the notion that Epstein killed himself But the Justice Department released in a memo Monday that there was no evidence he kept a client list or was murdered fueling rage and suspicion among countless in MAGA world FBI and Justice bureaucrats had been at odds for months about the handling of the Epstein files review But the tension spilled out publicly on Friday when far-right provocateur Laura Loomer who is close with people in the administration wrote on social media that Bongino and Patel were LIVID with Bondi over the Epstein situation She wrote Bongino was taking the day off in contemporary times from his job as Deputy Director of the FBI and there s now speculation on whether or not he will return to his job Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche denied a rift between Justice Department and FBI leadership in a post on X Friday saying that the suggestion by anyone that there was any daylight between the FBI and DOJ leadership on this memo s composition and release is patently false White House deputy press secretary Harrison Fields announced Trump has assembled a highly qualified and experienced law and order group dedicated to protecting Americans holding criminals accountable and delivering justice to casualties This work is being carried out seamlessly and with unity Fields mentioned Any attempt to sow division within this association is baseless and distracts from the real progress being made in restoring citizens safety and pursuing justice for all Bondi orchestrated an event at the White House in February with pro-Trump social media influencers to present binders of Epstein-related documents though she later faced criticism when the MAGA influencers realized most of of the documents had been residents for years Patel had minimal involvement in that event More in recent days Bongino repeated promises that the files would be issued even as he tried to downplay their contents At least one of Bongino s frustrations relates to a -hour surveillance video taken outside of Epstein s Manhattan jail cell the day he died a person familiar with the situation notified CNN As the investigators spent weeks combing through records related to the Epstein examination Bongino discovered the video the person reported The deputy director was elated by the discovery and he stated it was definitive evidence that Epstein had not been murdered they mentioned But after the video was distributed members of the society and press observed that the video jumped forward cutting out seconds Bondi has publicly disclosed the outdated recording system that produced the video resets every day at midnight and the same minute is skipped every evening Still theories about what happened in that minute exploded online and Bongino was blamed internally for the oversight Patel and Bongino have privately expressed frustration for months over the DOJ s handling of the development stemming in part from an early interview where Bondi implied the FBI was still reviewing the event while it had already been turned over to the Department of Justice sources familiar with the matter reported This story has been updated with additional details