Dan Bongino said there were two FBIs during a new episode of Hang Out with Sean Hannity, drawing a line between the bureau’s child-exploitation work and what he portrayed as another internal culture. The former FBI deputy director made the comments after leaving the agency in January, following roughly 10 months on the job.
Bongino said, “There were two FBIs.” He also described “The FBI of your, you know, VCAC agents, violent crimes against children,” and linked the split to the way he says the bureau handled sensitive information and internal loyalty.
Bongino and Sean Hannity
The remarks aired on Tuesday in an interview with Sean Hannity, who hosts the program where Bongino laid out the distinction. Bongino said he started at the FBI roughly 10 months before he left in January, giving the comments added weight because they came from inside the bureau’s leadership ranks.
He also said he feared retaliation after discovering “Crossfire” documents in burn bags at FBI offices last year. Bongino said the files pertained to the FBI’s investigation into allegations that President Donald Trump colluded with Russia during his 2016 presidential campaign.
Crossfire Files at FBI Offices
The discovery of those files is the sharpest friction point in Bongino’s account. He said he found the material last year and later faked details about his schedule to identify which people at the agency were leaking information to the media. That claim places the focus on internal trust, not just the documents themselves.
His account also ties the “two FBIs” line to a larger dispute over how the bureau handled politically sensitive investigations and who inside the agency had access to information. Bongino said the files showed the FBI knew the investigation was “bulls— from the start,” a charge that goes beyond the on-air split he described.
Kash Patel and the Bureau
Bongino’s comments add to public allegations he has made about internal division and misconduct at the bureau, now from the perspective of someone who recently served as deputy director. Kash Patel, the FBI director referenced by Bongino, is part of the backdrop to those remarks, but Bongino’s on-air point centered on the internal divide he said he saw firsthand.
For readers, the practical takeaway is narrow but important: Bongino is not describing the FBI as one institution with one culture. He is saying his own experience inside the bureau led him to see two separate versions of it, and he used a national interview to put that claim in public view.
