Pick for No. 2 at FBI Bucks Tradition

A name familiar to supporters of President Trump is the new No. 2 at the FBI. Trump announced on Truth Social on Sunday night that conservative pundit Dan Bongino will serve as deputy director under Kash Patel, reports the Washington Post. About Bongino:

• He worked as an NYPD officer before becoming a Secret Service agent, helping provide protection for presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
• Since leaving the Secret Service, Bongino has become a star right-wing pundit and podcaster. Fox News, where Bongino had a hosting gig, describes him as "a vociferous opponent of the investigations into Trump and one who served at the forefront of Trump's 2020 election fraud claims."
• In 2018, Bongino famously said, "My entire life right now is about owning the libs," notes Axios. The right-wing site Twitchy predicts "an uptick in Kaopectate sales in the DC area this week," thanks to worried Democrats.

• Bongino does not need Senate confirmation for the No. 2 post, which is typically filled by a senior FBI agent, notes the New York Times. Patel's selection of him "is a radical and abrupt departure from that practice and raises startling questions about how two people who have never served as F.B.I. agents will oversee the vast surveillance and investigative powers of an agency of 38,000 people and a budget of about $11 billion," per the Times.
• Axios amplifies the point above, asserting that with two fiercely loyal backers of the president at the top, "the bureau can function effectively as Trump's private security force."

(More FBI stories.)