It usually works the other way around, but the Epstein files furor now has the White House turned so inside-out that bewildered aides have been quietly reaching out to CNN for clarity over what on earth is going on in their own administration.
The principal source of confusion over the weekend seems to have been whether or not Dan Bongino was actually still deputy director of the FBI, after his failure to turn up at the office Friday. That led to speculation he’d followed through on threats to quit during a fiery Wednesday exchange with Attorney General Pam Bondi over her handling of recent developments in the Jeffrey Epstein case.
“[Officials] were texting each other and texting me this morning asking, you know, whether or not they had figured out if he had shown up to work today because it was still an open question in Washington this morning if he was going to be back at the FBI today,” CNN host Kaitlin Collins told viewers Monday.
Though he did finally re-emerge at the office, Collins noted the uncertainty had been fueled by the fact his relationship with other members of the administration “has deteriorated so much that there are officials inside the White House who have not spoken to Dan Bongino in days,” as well as the fact that “the president with very angry” with him following his reported outburst last Wednesday.
Trump himself had indeed offered little in the way of clarity when asked whether Bongino was still in his post Sunday, only telling reporters “Oh, I think so” and that “I think he’s in good shape,” with the White House and Justice Department pushing back on reports of a growing rift between Justice and FBI leadership.
A long-time peddler of Epstein conspiracy theories, Bongino’s reported threats to quit came as the MAGA backlash escalated over the DOJ and FBI findings that Epstein’s 2019 death in custody was likely a suicide, and that he kept no “client list” of elite co-conspirators despite Bondi’s prior assurances the roster not only existed, but was “sitting on my desk” awaiting review.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
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