By FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino is weighing whether to resign following a contentious clash with Attorney General Pam Bondi over the Justice Department’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, according to multiple sources who spoke to CNN. The confrontation, which took place during a high-level meeting Wednesday at the White House, has intensified already simmering divisions within the Trump administration—many of them rooted in the fallout from a recently released FBI-DOJ memo concerning Epstein’s 2019 death.
The closed-door meeting included Bongino, FBI Director Kash Patel, Bondi, and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. At issue was whether Bongino or Patel were behind a leak to NewsNation, which suggested that the FBI had intended to release further Epstein-related disclosures but was overruled by the Justice Department. “Bongino denied leaking that notion to NewsNation,” CNN noted, adding that he had also declined to endorse the public statement defending the memo referenced in the article.
The controversy follows the administration’s decision to release ten hours of surveillance footage from outside Epstein’s New York City prison cell—an attempt to quell suspicions about foul play. The video was presented as evidence that no one entered Epstein’s cell prior to his officially declared suicide, explained Axios. However, a “missing minute” of footage—attributed to an outdated security system’s daily reset—has only fueled further speculation, particularly among Trump’s base. Critics have pointed to the administration’s handling of the release, first reported by Axios, as another failure to deliver transparency in a case fraught with conspiracy.
Bongino, who had previously championed Epstein-related theories as a conservative media personality, had publicly defended the surveillance video, insisting it had undergone a “thorough review” and would help resolve public doubt. But when it failed to satisfy skeptics, he reportedly became distraught. “When that didn’t work, he lost his mind and ran out of D.C.,” a senior administration official told Axios.
Bongino’s absence from FBI headquarters on Friday fueled rumors that he had already stepped down. However, multiple sources confirmed he remained in his post as of that afternoon, but Bongio has said before that he dislikes his current job.
“People ask all the time, ‘Do you like it?’ No. I don’t,” he told Fox News last month.
At the center of Bongino’s frustration, sources say, is Bondi’s handling of the Epstein files—particularly her unfulfilled promises to release a “client list” that ultimately didn’t exist. One White House event in February, organized by Bondi and billed as a bombshell, involved pro-Trump influencers being shown binders of Epstein documents—many of which were already in the public domain. Patel, whose name was attached to the event, reportedly played a minimal role.
Some have speculated that the change in heart at the White House came from Epstein’s alleged connections to intelligence agencies.
Despite the internal fallout, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche attempted to project unity. In a post on Twitter, Blanche stated that he “worked closely with @FBIDirectorKash and @FBIDDBongino on the joint FBI and DOJ memo regarding the Epstein Files,” emphasizing that all parties “signed off on the contents” and calling any talk of internal strife “patently false.”
I worked closely with @FBIDirectorKash and @FBIDDBongino on the joint FBI and DOJ memo regarding the Epstein Files. All of us signed off on the contents of the memo and the conclusions stated in the memo. The suggestion by anyone that there was any daylight between the FBI and…
— Todd Blanche (@DAGToddBlanche) July 11, 2025
Nevertheless, the episode has revealed a broader sense of discontent among Trump advisers, many of whom are privately critical of Bondi’s stewardship of the Epstein investigation. Yet Bondi appears to retain the president’s trust. “Trump loves Pam and thinks she’s great,” a senior White House official told Axios.
While Bongino has yet to formally resign, and may ultimately stay, the standoff has exposed deepening fractures in the administration’s effort to manage the political and public pressure surrounding one of the most controversial deaths in recent American memory.
[Read More: Some Question Bondi’s Motive]
