Via VigilantFox.com
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino appeared on Hannity’s show Wednesday night to outline the bureau’s current priorities and address concerns about national security, immigration and public health transparency.
The interview provided a detailed overview of how the FBI, under the leadership of Bongino and Director Kash Patel, is approaching both domestic and international threats in the early stages of Trump’s second administration.
Hannity began by asking about the FBI’s top priorities. Bongino replied that their main goal is to prevent large-scale terrorist attacks in major US cities.
“We can’t let New York, Washington or Los Angeles boom,” he said.
He explained that this concern is not hypothetical – it shapes their daily operational reviews. Bongino said their mission begins every morning with this scenario in mind, working closely with Patel.
But he stressed that other serious threats are equally serious. He pointed to cyberattacks that could disrupt infrastructure and foreign efforts to infiltrate U.S. intelligence operations.
“The massive cyber threat and the counterintelligence threat,” he said, are now “equal priorities.”
Hannity then brought up the issue of the southern border. Bongino acknowledged the scale of illegal entry and said the concern extends beyond numbers to intent.
“There are people here… who want to do bad things – I think that’s pretty obvious.”
He said FBI teams are being sent in early in the morning to carry out takedowns and thwart plots before they can be carried out.
“Our FBI teams are out at 4:00 and 5:00 in the morning to get these people out of the country while preventing a terrorist attack.”
On the subject of how the bureau classifies certain acts, Bongino said they are taking a more direct approach.
“We are no longer the Federal Bureau of Damned Puns.”
He noted that acts involving targeted violence and extremist slogans are considered terrorism.
“We are investigating this boldly – as a targeted violence and terrorist attack.”
He added, “What the hell do you want us to investigate? Some kind of fucking grand theft auto?!”
The conversation then turned to COVID-19. Hannity asked if the government had misled the public about the origin of the virus.
“Will we learn that we have been lied to about the root causes of the coronavirus?”
Bongino replied: “You’re damn right. We’re all in this together.”
When asked whether the spread of misinformation was intentional, Bongino replied that an investigation was already underway.
“Well, you’ll find out for yourself. Yeah, listen, that’s what I’m most optimistic about.”
He shared that reopening the case was one of his first steps in the role.
“I had made it pretty clear on my social media account that I had ordered this case to be reinvestigated immediately. We have a great investigator on this and I think we should see action on this soon.”
Hannity then asked if former FBI officials would be held accountable. Bongino focused on former Director James Comey, who he said has been publicly critical of the FBI’s current leadership.
“Comey, actually the guy who ironically has a lot to say about me and Kashi – and that’s okay, you know, he’s allowed to have an opinion, he’s a free American citizen like anyone else – but we found these items.”
Bongino said that among these items were sensitive documents.
“I covered this on Fox & Friends and I can go into a little more detail, but we found these things,” Bongino reiterated.
“We found documents – documents that weren’t where they were supposed to be. And they weren’t flattering documents for Jim Comey.”
He addressed this as part of a broader issue of internal culture.
“The arrogance displayed by a man like Jim Comey, who has disgraced the FBI multiple times with his role in Crossfire Hurricane and other abominations, is simply astonishing that he continues to attack our leadership while we have to clean up the mess Jim Comey created … while we continue to find things from his era and vintage.”
Hannity concluded by asking what the FBI might look like a year into Trump’s second term. Bongino said the goal is a complete overhaul of the operation.
“A year from now, I want the FBI to have played a key role in deporting hundreds of thousands of violent criminals from the United States.”
“I want the FBI to have foiled multiple terrorist plots that we can’t tell you about every day.”
He said many of these results remain invisible to the public.
“Sean, every morning we have a briefing with Kashi and our operations directors. We can’t sit here and race every time something doesn’t work out,” Bongino said.
“In fact, we almost never do it because we can’t.”
He outlined additional goals, including strengthening counterintelligence, addressing Chinese cyber espionage, and confronting the threat posed by drones.
“I want to make sure that our counterintelligence operation is top-notch… that the constant threat of the Chinese Communist Party infiltrating our systems and cyberspying on us – that we have finally made significant progress,” he said.
“I want to be sure about the threat of drones – that we have taken action against it, not just talked about it.”
Finally, Bongino explained that the bureau’s success should be reflected in measurable public safety outcomes.
“I want to make sure that we can look back to the American people and say – under President Trump, with Attorney General Pam Bond and Director Patel – the murder rate is at an all-time low.”
“The crime rate is down,” Bongino said, adding, “The border is closed and your FBI was involved in that.”
