Former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino has revealed a divide within the agency he helped lead, claiming the bureau is split between agents he views as effective and others he described as “snakes.”
Bongino joined the “Hang Out with Sean Hannity” podcast to discuss his time at the FBI and the internal roadblocks he and FBI Director Kash Patel encountered.
“There were two FBIs trying to help you solve the A, B and C problems, and that’s FBI one and FBI two,” Bongino said in the episode released Tuesday.
He explained that half of the bureau consists of agents he felt “honored” to be in the room with, including those working in Violent Crimes Against Children (VCAC) and violent crime fugitive task forces. But on the other side of the FBI, Bongino had a different view.
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“And then you had this other FBI,” Bongino said, adding, “which was populated with, to say, unfortunately, ‘snakes’ is being nice.”
He said it was difficult for him and Patel to determine which agents fit each category, noting it was not “always obvious.” He added they sometimes relied on outside sources to vet agents, but those efforts were not always accurate.
“You’re trying to figure this out, and you’re asking someone for advice, you’ve only been there a couple weeks, and you don’t know if that person is part of the good FBI or the bad FBI,” Bongino said.
“It happened a couple times where they’d say, ‘Oh, you can trust John Smith.’ And you trust John Smith, and then a week later you see a leak in the media and you’d be like, ‘I’m pretty sure that came from John Smith,’” he added.
To root out these individuals, Bongino described a tactic he used to identify leakers. He made up an “innocuous” detail about his schedule in hopes it would be leaked. When it appeared in the media, he was able to confront the person with whom he shared it.
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“It was like we would play this little game,” Bongino said.
Bongino joined the bureau in March 2025 and left nearly a year later in January 2026. At the time of his appointment, he stated his goal was to restore an agency that was “transparent, accountable, and committed to the rule of law.”
“My promise to you is that I will work tirelessly to help restore integrity, eliminate political bias, and ensure the FBI remains dedicated to its core mission of protecting the United States and upholding the Constitution,” Bongino continued at the time.
