Deputy FBI Director Bongino has told people he is considering resigning amid Epstein files fallout

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Deputy FBI Director Bongino has told people he is considering resigning amid Epstein files fallout. Kaitlan Collins shares details on why FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino is considering resigning, according to sources

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00:00All right, this breaking news. Sources tell CNN that Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino has told

00:06people that he's considering resigning amid a major clash between the FBI and DOJ over the

00:12continued fallout from the release, or lack thereof, of the Jeffrey Epstein memo. Joining

00:19us right now in files, joining us right now on the phone is CNN anchor and chief White House

00:23correspondent Caitlin Collins. Caitlin, what more are you learning? Yeah, Fred, it remains to be

00:29seen if he actually follows through with what he has told colleagues. But what we do know is that

00:34Dan Bongino has told people he is considering resigning as the Deputy Director of the FBI over

00:40the fallout that has continued ever since this memo was released last Sunday. The anger inside the

00:47MAGA base has only continued to grow instead of going away, as some officials inside hoped it would.

00:52And now our colleagues, along with Christian Holmes, Hannah Rabinowitz, and Evan Perez, we're hearing

00:57that he's considering resigning after they had this heated confrontation with the Attorney General

01:03Pam Bondi over the handling of this earlier this week. And basically, there was a meeting at the

01:07White House where the FBI Director, Kath Patel, was there, the White House Chief of Staff, Suzy

01:12Riles. They were questioned about whether they were part of a story that there was basically some

01:17infighting over how this came out. And this memo that said, we're not going to be releasing any more

01:23information related to Jeffrey Epstein. And I should note that we are told Bongino denied

01:28leaking any story to this outlet that it was reported on. But there has been a lot of fighting

01:34between Attorney General Pam Bondi specifically, and the leadership over at the FBI over who's to blame

01:41in this situation. I think the context here is obviously Dan Bongino, Cash Patel, they came from this

01:47MAGA world where they themselves had pushed a lot of questions about the so-called client list that

01:52Epstein had beforehand. And now the MAGA base is just not pleased or satisfied with what they've

01:59said in this memo that came out unsigned from the Justice Department and the FBI on Sunday night.

02:05So what we are told is Dan Bongino did not show up to work today, that he is essentially there,

02:10not there out of protests. But whether or not he actually follows through on this still remains to

02:15be seen. We're still reporting that out. But it just speaks to the backlash that the White House is very

02:20much feeling and understanding after this memo came out. Despite President Trump the other day

02:25in the cabinet room asking, you know, who still cares about this? One thing we know is the MAGA base

02:31certainly does.

02:33All right, Caitlin Collins, thanks so much for that. We'll check back with you as you learn more.

02:38CNN senior justice correspondent Evan Perez is also with us. And so, Evan,

02:42is it your understanding that if Bongino were to resign, it's as a result of the infighting,

02:49including with the AG, Pam Bondi? Or is it mostly over the disappointment of these Epstein files,

02:59either not existing or not being released?

03:03Well, look, I think there, Fred, there's a larger issue here. And I think, you know,

03:07if you look at Dan Bongino, he was a very successful podcaster. He was very, he had a very

03:12big following online, very certainly very financially successful with his podcast. That

03:19was a very, very strong appeal inside MAGA world. And this job really hasn't been, I think,

03:26very much fun. And if you see, you've seen him doing some of his interviews in right-leaning media

03:33and conservative media, he has said as much. He has said that this job is taking a toll on his

03:39life, on his personal life, with his family. He's having to essentially be separated from them while

03:45he's here in Washington doing this job. It's not nearly what he's used to back in the days,

03:51obviously. He is someone who came from law enforcement. So, you know, I think there's a bigger

03:56story here in terms of what Bongino is thinking. But I certainly think part of what Caitlin,

04:02what Caitlin laid out just now is partly the story here. And that is that there is some daylight

04:08between top FBI officials and top Justice Department officials over the handling of this Epstein matter.

04:17You'll remember that back in February, the Attorney General, Pam Bondi, led this event at the White House

04:24where they brought in all these MAGA influencers, these conservative influencers on social media,

04:29and gave them, with great ceremony, these binders that were supposed to contain these Epstein files.

04:36Turns out, though, most of the files were actually out there for years. And so it was a great

04:41embarrassment both to Bondi and to FBI officials who really didn't have much role in this. And so

04:47that's where some of this begins and where you see some of the distance. And so I'll point out one quick

04:54thing that on social media today, Todd Blanche, the Deputy Attorney General, has tried to respond to some

05:01of the pushback from Lara Loomer and some of the other. And he has basically tried to point out that

05:08Kash Patel and Don Bongino and the Justice Department leadership are all on the same page,

05:13that there is no daylight. If you look at the tweet, you know, he says, the suggestion by anyone

05:19that there was any daylight between the FBI and DOJ leadership on this memo's composition

05:23and release is patently false or patently false. Now, he's referring to the memo that went out this

05:29week where they said there's no there there, we're not releasing anything else. It's very clear, Fred,

05:35that there is daylight between the FBI and the Justice Department over the handling of this.

05:42And so we'll see how this plays out in the coming days and weeks. We don't know whether Bongino is

05:48coming back to work next week. It appears he's taken the day off. He's down in Florida somewhere.

05:54And so we don't know whether he's going to be back to work next week. But we certainly know that this

05:59is not a story that is going to go away because as as Caitlin pointed out just now, certainly MAGA world

06:07is not done with this. They want more and they want to see more from those documents that the FBI still

06:13has. And it is evident this is just the latest in what seems to be a litany of turmoil that we're

06:20seeing in recent days and weeks involving top leadership in this administration. All right,

06:27Evan Perez. Thank you so much.

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