Dan Bongino (R) with Donald Trump
EA on NewsTalk FM: Week in Review — The Pope, Housing in Ireland, and Trump-Musk Destruction
I joined Times Radio’s Daniel Finkelstein on Monday to explore how a hard-right podcaster, Dan Bongino, was named by the Trump Administration to become the FBI’s Deputy Director.
Listen to Discussion from 25:57
I review Bongino’s move from police officer and Secret Service agent to a leading purveyor of Trumpist invective and disinformation on his podcast and Fox TV. I note how he has loudly backed the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
And I describe why the Trump Administration has broken with precedent by naming Bongino, who left law enforcement in 2011, rather than a career FBI agent: Donald Trump’s interest is not in maintaining the US system of justice, but in exacting retribution against his “enemies” — including FBI agents and Justice Department prosecutors and staff — as he names TV and radio personalities to top posts.
This is not an effort to cut waste within the FBI. This is not an effort to hold the FBI to account for past operations that may have crossed a line.
This is trying to hold the FBI to account for doing its job.
Donald Trump made no secret of this: he said on Day 1 of taking the White House, he would go after his political enemies. And he considers the FBI to be part of the “deep state” that pursued the cases against him, both political (Trump-Russia) and legal (his attempt to overturn the 2020 election).
At the end of the day, you have to have a functioning justice system that treats all people equally. What you’re seeing is an attempt to put one person above the law by changing the changing the dynamic of America’s law enforcement agencies.
