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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