Dan Bongino: From NYPD to FBI Deputy Director

The Early Days / Personal Life

In this edition of Faces of Intrepidity, a sub-series where America Mission™ explores the rise of Dan Bongino from the NYPD to being named Deputy Director of the FBI. He’s a former politician, podcaster, radio and TV personality, rising to popularity after taking over for talk radio icon Rush Limbaugh.

EARLY LIFE

Dan Bongino was born in 1974 in New York City, later attending Queen’s College where he earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in psychology. He also earned a master’s degree in business administration from Pennsylvania State University.

Bongino is married with two daughters. He has also recounted his battle and remission, in 2021, associated with a diagnosis of Hodgkin lymphoma.

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A CIVIL SERVANT

Bongino worked for the New York City Police Department from 1995-1999, later serving over a decade as a member of U.S. Secret Service. During his time with secret service, Bongino became an instructor at the agency’s James J Rowley Training Center in Beltsville, MD.

In 2006, Bongino was assigned to the Presidential Protection Division. During that time, his assignments included direction protection of President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama.

POLITICAL ASPIRATIONS

Bongino left the secret service in 2011 to pursue political office, running once for U.S. Senate and twice for the house.

In 2012, he ran for one of Maryland’s US Senate seats. During the Republican primary, he was pitted against former governor Brian Murphy and eight other candidates. He easily won with 33.8 percent of the vote. In the general election, however, he lost in a landslide to senate incumbent Democrat Ben Cardin. Cardin who won again in 2018 and later retired in 2025.

Bongino set his sights on the US House of Representatives in 2014, running in Maryland’s 6^th District against Democrat John Delaney. Bongino narrowly lost by 1.5 percentage points, haven taken four of five counties. The loss came in the larger Montgomery County, a suburb of Washington, DC, where he trailed by 20,500 votes. Delaney later ran for President in 2020, before endorsing Joe Biden.

Following a move to Florida, Bongino again ran for the US House of Representatives. In 2016, he initially announced a bid for the 18^th congressional district before later switching his candidacy to the 19^th district. He finished third in that primary.

AUTHOR

Bongino became a best-selling author with his foray into publishing, leading him to produce six self-titled books .

His first book, “Life Inside the Bubble,” recounts his 12 years at the secret service. The book’s subtitle “Why A Top-Ranked Secret Service Walked Away From It All” encapsulates the in-side take he gained on government that he later used to launch his political and entertainment careers.

Bongino released a follow-up booked “The Fight” that dives deeper into his life and lessons learned inside the agency. It picks up with the first book left off, highlighting his grasp on security failings in the agency and in government.

In 2020, Bongino hit the best-seller list again with “Follow the Money.” The book is an examination of what he calls “The Deep State,” and takes a deep dive into the opposition of President Donald Trump over his first term and second campaign.

Bongino’s most recent book “The Gift of Failure,” released in 2023, explores his three political ventures and the lesson’s learned along the way.

His other books “Spygate,” “Exonerated,” and “Protecting he President” all landed on the New York Times Best Sellers List.

RADIO / TV PERSONALITY

Arguably what gained Bongino the most recognition was his radio work. He landed guest host duties on both Washington and Baltimore radio shows, which lead to appearances and guest hosting duties for Sean Hannity and Mark Levin.

The national spotlight gave him the platform to launch The Dan Bongino Show, a talk-radio show through Cumulus Media. The contract resulted in airing on 340 stations, casting Bongino into the national spotlight. It also gave him the coveted midday time slot vacated by the passing of radio icon, and talk-radio pioneer, Rush Limbaugh .

A contract dispute between Bongino and Cumulus led to slowly pulling show in various markets.

In a major swing, Westwood One offered him a new contract. The Dan Bongino Show, was mix of Bongino’s high-energy and often satirical take on political issues surrounding both the Democrat party and establishment Republicans.

Pulling from his experiences in politics, the NYPD, and inside information garnered during his stint in the secret service, Bongino was able to provide a different perspective than his competition. The unique take earned him an average of 8.7 million weekly listeners.

Westwood One announced Bongino’s show will be replaced by Vince Coglianese on March 17, 2025.

Bongino’s farewell address got quite emotional for the seasoned personality.

In addition to his radio work, Bongino was a regular commentator on cable news networks FoxNews, CNN and other notable outlets.

PODCASTS / SOCIAL MEDIA

Bongino also launched a podcast by the same name “The Dan Bongino Show” on Apple, Spotify and other platforms.

Year-end totals reported by Cumulus Meida show Bongino’s podcast reached 16 million downloads in July 2024 and eventually earned him the top spot on Apple Podcasts later that month. He was number three on Spotify in the same period; and racked up 42 million downloads on Rumble. Bongino had 350 million total downloads on Rumble in 2024.

In other social media venture Bongino set out to develop what he called “a parallel economy.” Bongino claimed association with the social media platform Parler, often giving disclaimers about his involvement during his radio broadcasts. Parler disputed Bingino’s involvement. Nevertheless, Bongino has topped three million followers on the site.

His top-performing social media platforms include X.com @dbongino where he had amassed 6.7 million followers as of March 7, 2025; and Facebook where he had 5.9 million followers. Bongino has another two million Rumble.

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RETURN TO CIVIL SERVICE

In 2025 President Donald Trump announced, on his platform Truth Social, that Bongino was being appointed as the Deputy Director of the FBI. The announcement came shortly after congressional approval of Kash Patel as the agency’s new director. Bongino has made multiple remarks of the bitter-sweet departure from his daily radio show to take the role, which is slated to being March 17, 2025.

Bongino’s farewell address got quite emotional for the seasoned personality.

Bongino signs off

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