Conservative commentator and former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino was tapped last month by President Trump to become the new Deputy Director of the FBI. The move means The Dan Bongino Show will end production this Friday (March 14). His multiweek extended stay at his podcast has raised some questions in the political press, but Bongino is pushing back. He says there’s good reason he’s producing his podcast for several more weeks.
“My start date is March 17th. Until that date I have this thing called a ‘job.’ A very successful job that I love very much. And a job I am willingly walking away from,” Bongino wrote in a weekend social media post. “Many dedicated and hard-working people are also sacrificing financially because their jobs depended on my job. Out of respect for the many people impacted, and in an effort to unwind my role in said business and job, I took the appropriate time to do it correctly and properly. And, until said time, my job uses an ad-supported revenue model.”
Bongino appears to be pushing back against stories like one that appeared last week in Mother Jones that was critical of him continuing to pitch for “his MAGA show sponsors” after being selected by Trump for the FBI post. “Bongino will be the first ever to take this key national security and law enforcement role fresh off of hyping antigovernment paranoia and hawking prepper products,” it said.
But Bongino says stories like that demonstrate just how out of touch many of his critics are.
“For those in the media unfamiliar with this concept, here’s how it works: Companies pay for these things called advertisements or ‘spots.’ The host of a show will typically read or record those spots. This isn’t a new business model, but I can forgive you for missing it over the last century of its existence,” he wrote in the post. “And I will conclude by stating that your repeated attacks on me serve only as a reflection on you. That you cannot fathom how a man with strong political opinions can put those aside to serve the country, is more of a testament to the state of ‘journalism’ than an attack on my decision to serve again. Hope this helps,” he wrote.
The Dan Bongino Podcast launched in 2017 and in May 2021 the host inked a deal to leverage the podcast as a midday syndicated talk show for Westwood One. The number of stations that aired the show has tripled since it launched, growing to more than 350. Bongino inked a new three-year deal with Cumulus Media in December 2023.
Bongino and his wife, Paula, have launched the media company Silverloch Productions, which will remain in the podcast business. That includes a deal to launch a new podcast hosted by Vince Coglianese. The one-hour podcast titled simply as “Vince” will be a warmup to his new radio show, which will air weekdays from 12-3pm and be syndicated by Cumulus-owned Westwood One. The Vince podcast and “The Vince Show” on radio are set to launch next Monday, March 17, with more than 250 radio affiliates already onboard. The Cumulus Podcast Network will handle the distribution, sales and marketing for the Vince podcast, as part of Silverloch’s wider portfolio of podcasts.
“The new company will be divorcing itself from me and my business interests because lobbyist ethics rules,” Bongino said in a recent episode of his podcast. With Bongino’s new role at the FBI, Paula Bongino is taking on the new role as President of Silverloch.
Mother Jones notes that federal law bars government employees from working on government matters affecting their own personal financial interests, including the interests of a spouse.
Kedric Payne, ethics director at the watchdog group Campaign Legal Center, tells the magazine that the media company could still cause ethics issues for Bongino and potentially harm public confidence in the FBI if its content is related to the FBI or Bongino’s work.
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