Tucker Carlson says Attorney General Pam Bondi just wrecked FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino’s career, and it all goes back to Jeffrey Epstein.
Carlson didn’t hold back during an appearance on the Culture Apothecary podcast, blaming the fallout over Bondi’s handling of the Epstein case for what he called the total collapse of Bongino’s podcasting career.
According to Carlson, Bongino was “making tons of money” and “having a great time” in Florida until President Trump asked him to take a leadership role at the FBI. Bongino agreed, took a pay cut, moved his family to DC, and stepped away from his media platform because, as Carlson put it, he loves Trump and loves his country.
Then the Epstein scandal hit.
The DOJ released a memo saying Epstein died by suicide and that there was no “client list.” That contradicted what Bondi suggested in a February Fox News interview, where she said she had the Epstein file sitting on her desk. MAGA supporters ran with that, believing she had the list, and when it didn’t materialize, the blame fell on her.
Carlson said the backlash ricocheted straight onto Bongino.
“All of a sudden everybody thinks you’re covering up Epstein’s crimes. And it kind of wrecks Dan’s career,” Carlson said. “It’s going to be very hard to go back to his podcast audience and be like, ‘I’m telling you the truth,’ when they all think that he’s covering up for Epstein. Who did that? Pam Bondi did that.”
The White House later clarified that Bondi had the entire Epstein file, not a specific client list, but the damage was done. Even before the DOJ memo dropped, Bongino had to admit on Fox News that the evidence pointed to suicide, not murder.
Carlson said Bongino “got completely shafted.”
Bongino admitted in May that he’s miserable in his new role and feels like he’s “dying inside.” He didn’t show up to work Friday, fueling reports that he’s either quit or is seriously considering it.
Carlson was clear that he doesn’t believe Bondi acted maliciously. “She’s a very nice person,” he said. “I don’t think she did it on purpose. I think she’s insecure and trying to please people.”
Still, he said, “It leaves a guy like Dan in a horrible position. And he loves Trump, and I don’t think Trump had any knowledge of any of this at the detail level. So, I mean, what do you do if you’re Dan Bongino? I just really feel for him.”
Despite it all, Trump came to Bondi’s defense over the weekend on Truth Social.
He wrote, “We’re on one Team, MAGA, and I don’t like what’s happening. We have a PERFECT Administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and ‘selfish people’ are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein.”
He added that Bondi is doing a “FANTASTIC JOB” and made clear he’s sticking by her.
Bongino returned to work on Monday after a disagreement with Bondi over the handling of the Epstein investigation prompted him to consider resigning last week, according to The Post.
Multiple sources told CNN that Bongino, 50, returned to work after taking a personal day on Friday, but his future with the agency remains unknown following the heated discussion with President Trump’s Justice Department chief.
The FBI and DOJ delivered a document this week summarizing a review of the case against Epstein, who died in his Manhattan prison cell on August 10, 2019.
The handling of the Epstein files has sparked a schism within Trump’s MAGA supporters, with some supporting Bongino if he had quit in protest of the case’s alleged lack of openness.
