
A New York Times editorial recently accused the FBI, under Deputy Director Dan Bongino, of morphing into a political tool—yet the facts on the ground tell a very different story, one that exposes the left’s endless appetite for outrage when their grip on power slips.
At a Glance
- Dan Bongino, former Secret Service agent, is now FBI Deputy Director under the Trump administration.
- The New York Times claims Bongino’s appointment is part of a partisan takeover of the FBI.
- Bongino and Director Kash Patel emphasize a renewed law enforcement focus on violent crime and border security.
- Career FBI agents and left-leaning outlets warn about “politicization” but can’t argue with rising operational results.
FBI Leadership Shakeup Sparks Media Meltdown
The appointment of Dan Bongino as FBI Deputy Director, following the confirmation of Kash Patel as Director, sent the mainstream media into a tailspin. The New York Times practically broke its own thesaurus searching for new ways to shout “politicization” after decades of pretending the agency was run by nonpartisan saints. Bongino’s background as a Secret Service agent and NYPD officer, rather than a lifelong FBI bureaucrat, instantly made him suspect in the eyes of the legacy press—never mind his record of tackling real crime and protecting real Americans. What’s actually infuriating the establishment is not any actual abuse of power, but the sudden loss of their own unbroken chain of influence inside the halls of federal law enforcement.
Bongino’s appointment, and Patel’s before him, followed years of rising tension between the Trump administration and the FBI brass, most notably after the Comey era and the endless investigations targeting Trump and his supporters. Critics claim the new leadership lacks the “right” kind of experience—translation: they haven’t spent decades climbing the internal ladder, currying favor with the right political appointees, and learning how to dodge real accountability. The public, meanwhile, is left wondering why the FBI’s supposed independence is only ever threatened when someone outside the Beltway club takes charge.
Crime-Fighting Results Speak for Themselves
Bongino has wasted no time responding to the media’s accusations. He points to record numbers of arrests of violent criminals, child predators, and drug traffickers, and highlights joint operations like “Summer Heat” that have taken thousands of dangerous offenders off the streets. The focus has shifted back to the basics: violent crime, border security, and national safety. Patel and Bongino have made a public pledge not to use the agency for political vendettas—a sharp departure from the Comey era, when leaks and politically motivated investigations seemed to dominate headlines.
Internal FBI sources confirm that the new leadership has made operational effectiveness, not politics, the top priority. Yes, some career agents are grumbling about a “break from tradition”—but let’s not pretend tradition hasn’t sometimes meant weaponizing the agency for whichever political faction happened to be in charge. Critics in the media and on Capitol Hill warn of a slippery slope toward full-blown politicization, yet have been conspicuously silent about the FBI’s checkered recent history of “accidentally” targeting one political party over another.
The Real Agenda: Border Security and Law Enforcement, Not Political Theater
While the mainstream press hyperventilates, the FBI under Bongino and Patel has locked arms with other agencies, focusing on the surge in violent crime and the endless crisis at the southern border. The numbers back it up: apprehensions at the southwest border dropped by an astonishing 93% from April 2024 to April 2025, thanks to coordinated efforts between federal, state, and local law enforcement. Operations like “Tidal Wave” in Florida—resulting in the largest-ever arrest of criminal noncitizens in a single state—show the fruits of this new strategy.
The Biden years saw federal resources poured into so-called “humanitarian” programs for newly arrived migrants, while border states like Texas were left footing the bill for actual enforcement. The current administration has reversed course, prioritizing funding for state-run operations and border security rather than endless subsidies for illegal immigration. The left predictably howls about “humanitarian needs”—but what about the needs of American citizens, families, and communities besieged by crime and chaos? The administration’s policies are now squarely aimed at restoring operational control and putting Americans first—a notion that, to the chattering classes in newsrooms, is apparently the most radical idea of all.