Reports: FBI leaders clash with AG Bondi over handling of Epstein files, consider resigning - National & International News - FRI 11Jul2025 -

Reports: FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino clash with Attorney General Pam Bondi over handling of Epstein files. Sources indicate both men are considering resigning if Bondi stays.

Reports: FBI leaders clash with AG Bondi over handling of Epstein files, considering resigning

Earlier this week, the Department of Justice issued a memo regarding its disclosures of FBI files pertaining to the crimes of late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein died by hanging in 2019 at the Manhattan Correctional Facility while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking of minors. The memo said that:

Epstein had no client list
There was no evidence Epstein had blackmailed any officials with knowledge of their crimes against minors
Epstein had taken his own life while in custody, despite many believing otherwise
There would be no further public disclosures due to concerns over victims’ privacy.

The memo immediately drew widespread criticism among members of the public and rightwing media figures, as well as from within the White House itself. Attorney General Pam Bondi immediately came under fire over remarks she made during a Fox News interview in February which seemed to imply that Epstein’s client list was on her desk.

Reports of high-level clashes at DOJ

Sources at the DOJ and FBI have told multiple outlets that FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino is strongly considering resigning over Bondi’s handling of the Epstein files. The sources say Bongino was absent from work today following a heated confrontation with Bondi and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles earlier this week. During this meeting, Wiles and Bondi reportedly confronted Bongino and FBI Director Kash Patel over media reports that Bongino and Patel were unhappy with the decision not to release further info from the Epstein files. The meeting apparently focused on a story from NewsNation earlier this week. Sources indicate Bongino is considering quitting unless Bondi is ousted or resigns.

Adding a new wrinkle, a DOJ source has told Mary Margaret Olohan, a reporter for conservative outlet The Daily Wire, that FBI Director Kash Patel “also wants Pam Bondi gone, and that he’d consider leaving if Bongino leaves”. Other outlets have not picked up on any talk of Patel resigning, but have confirmed tensions between Patel and Bondi over the Epstein files and other matters.

Neither Patel nor Bongino have commented publicly on any clash with Bondi.

Both Patel and Bongino signed off on memo

At least one source who spoke to NBC News indicated both Patel and Bongino were initially supportive of the memo until the public backlash. “Bondi, [Deputy Attorney General] Todd Blanche, Patel and Bongino were on the same page on this all along, until the criticism started to come in,” one source told NBC News. “Bongino couldn’t take it”. Olohan’s sources confirm that Patel and Bongino had signed off on the memo.

Prior to joining the Trump administration, Patel and Bongino were major surrogates for Trump in the media, even pushing the election fraud theories about Trump’s 2020 loss to Joe Biden. They also pushed for disclosure regarding Epstein, his clients and co-conspirators. However, since joining the FBI, they have both been more measured when asked about the topic of Epstein. Back in May, Maria Bartiromo of FoxNews asked Bongino and Patel about Epstein’s death, and both confirmed it was suicide.

WIRED: Metadata shows FBI’s “raw” Epstein jail footage was edited.