Assessing the Fallout From the Patel, Bongino Interview

Say what you will about new FBI Director Kash Patel and his deputy Dan Bongino, but one thing is for certain: They are not boring. The second certainty is that they sure do know how to tease an audience. Both men fielded questions from Fox News' Maria Bartiromo on Sunday (May 18) and managed to infuriate some, please others, and leave everyone on both sides of the political aisle wondering what’s next.

In a wide-ranging interview, the FBI’s top cop and his wingman managed to touch on just about every political drama of the last eight years. They waxed about J6 events, Jeffrey Epstein, the two Trump assassination attempts, and the effort to rebuild public trust in America’s most powerful law enforcement agency.

Time to Take a Deep Breath

Conspiracy theories that mysterious forces silenced Jeffrey Epstein went down like a thud when FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino asserted that everything he’s seen shows that the fallen financier did indeed commit suicide. “He killed himself. I’ve seen the whole file. He killed himself,” Bongino interjected under pressure from Bartiromo. The backlash was swift, so much so that the former radio host felt the need to defend himself with a post on X, saying, "I was asked about some of the details surrounding the Jeffrey Epstein case. I have reviewed the case. Jeffrey Epstein killed himself. There’s no evidence in the case file indicating otherwise.”

But that was only the beginning of the explosive topics. The events of Jan. 6 were also center stage, but this time it was Patel who piped up. He confirmed that 26 informants were in DC on that fateful day. However, none of them were directed to be there by the FBI. Patel also teased, “We just found a trove of information, and it’s on its way to Capitol Hill right now.” The only clear-cut point that Patel was willing to put on record was that soon a document dump would occur, the clouds would lift, the seas would part, and the events of Jan. 6 would finally be transparent to all.

Patel alluded to the coming clarity in this sound byte, often referred to as the money quote:

“Look, I can speak to the people who were in our seats, our predecessors, and they intentionally failed the American public by putting on the biggest DC deception game we’ve ever seen. They said the FBI was the most storied institution, and it was, and will be again very soon. But when the likes of [James] Comey, [Andrew] McCabe, [Peter] Strzok, and company came in here with the James Bakers of the world and intentionally lied to a federal court only to rig a presidential election by lying to the American public and using taxpayer dollars – likely illegally – to fund this entire operation and then withhold exculpatory information from a federal court … That’s what broke the FBI. And then when they were caught, they lied about it.”

Patel insisted the Crossfire Hurricane documents are being brought to Congress “fast and hard” and “unredacted” and will ultimately be used to “restore the credibility” of the bureau.

The Patel, Bongino Road Show

Still, Patel made sure to tell Bartiromo that Americans must remember that the Federal Bureau of Investigation works under the Department of Justice – doing its bidding. So the real enemy here wasn’t the bureau but rather the DOJ. This is a somewhat specious argument at this point because it remains to be seen who went first – the chicken or the egg?

In other words, was the FBI acting under the Justice Department, or was it a rogue agency? Or did all this corruption originate from the executive branch? Patel and Bongino claim everything will soon be crystal clear. However, these questions and more still need forthright answers before blame can be assessed on all the corruption that many believe was at the heart of the Biden administration.

Patel and Bongino are now at the pinnacle of their power, serving in high-level positions. And they’ve claimed the mantle of the cowboys in the white hats, ready to take down the bad guys: "It's a good thing we're here now to clean it up, and you're about to see a wave of transparency… Just give us about a week or two,” Patel asserted.