US President Donald Trump has appointed right-wing commentator Dan Bongino as deputy director of the FBI.
Trump said Bongino was “a man of incredible love and passion for our Country” and would serve under newly-confirmed FBI director Kash Patel.
Bongino is ex-NYPD and Secret Service and also worked as presidential protection for two presidents – George W Bush and Barack Obama.
He hosts a self-titled podcast whose Facebook posts often attract more attention than those of Fox News and CNN combined.
“Thank you Mr. President, Attorney General Bondi, and Director Patel,” Mr. Bongino wrote on X in a post after Trump’s announcement.
Mr Bongino, who has run for Congress three times, hosted the now-president on his podcast, the Dan Bongino Show, in October ahead of the 2024 election.
About his new career as a prolific conservative political commentator, he said in 2018: “My life is all about owning the libs now.”
He is “willing a prepared to give up” the podcast “in order to serve”, Trump said in his announcement on Sunday.
