Wednesday, podcast host and former Secret Service agent, Dan Bongino spoke before the House Judiciary Committee, where he pleaded with lawmakers to forgo “stop the defund the police abomination before someone gets hurt.”
His short speech is worth the watch. You’ll also find the transcript beneath.
The transcript, in all caps, because that’s how C-SPAN publishes transcripts:
I DEEPLY APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK ON THIS CRITICAL ISSUE. I AM DEEPLY SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS AND I HOPE YOU TAKE SOLACE IN THE JUSTICE WE PRAISE TO COME. IT WAS A TOUGH VIDEO TO WATCH FOR ALL OF US. POLICE OFFICER DAN O’SULLIVAN WAS A FRIEND OF MINE. WE WENT TO THE ACADEMY TOGETHER AND WE LOST TOUCH WHEN WE GRADUATED. WE WERE ASSIGNED TO SEPARATE PRECINCTS IN DIFFERENT AREAS OF NEW YORK. DAN AND I WERE BRIEFLY REUNITED IN 1998. IT WAS NOT A JOYOUS OCCASION. I WAS REUNITED WITH DAN IN THE HOSPITAL IN QUEENS WHERE HE WAS HOSPITALIZED WITH DEVASTATING INJURIES AFTER PULLING OVER, OFF-DUTY, TO ASSIST A DRIVER AND A CRITICAL EMERGENCY SITUATION. HE WAS HURT BADLY. DAN WAS THE VERY ESSENCE OF A PUBLIC SERVANT. HE ALWAYS PUT HIMSELF LAST WHILE PUTTING HIS COMMITMENT TO THE SAFETY OF THE PUBLIC HE PLEDGED TO SERVE FIRST. THAT WAS THE DAN I KNEW. MY PLAN OF THE NYPD AND UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE I HAD THE HONOR AND PRIVILEGE OF WORKING WITH AGENTS AND POLICE OFFICERS WHO COMMIT THEMSELVES TO A HIGHER CAUSE. JUST LIKE DAN, I MET SO MANY COMMITTED PUBLIC SERVANTS THAT I CANNOT EVEN RECALL ALL OF THEIR NAMES. THESE ARE GOOD MEN AND WOMEN. YES, WITH ANY PROFESSIONS THERE ARE OFFICERS, NO QUESTION, MORE SUITED FOR THE JOB. SOME WILL CAUSE TROUBLE AND SOMETIMES WORSE. WE HAVE SEEN THAT. IN MY EXPERIENCE THIS IS RARE. THE SPECIAL AGENTS I WORK WITH AND REMAIN FRIENDS WITH, THE NYPD, NEW YORK CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT, ON THAT TRAGIC DAY OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 — THEY SPRINTED INTO THOSE BUILDINGS AND ESCORTED PEOPLE OUT. WE ALL KNOW THOSE BUILDINGS COLLAPSED AND TAKING MANY OF THOSE NYPD SOULS WITH THEM. THOSE BRAVE SOULS RUNNING INTO THE BUILDINGS AND EVERYONE ELSE WAS EVACUATING. THESE ARE THE TYPES OF PEOPLE I WAS HONORED AND PRIVILEGED TO WORK WITH. PUBLIC SAFETY CAME FIRST. EVERYTHING ELSE CAN SECOND. SOMETIMES EVEN THEIR OWN FAMILIES. TO DEFUND THE POLICE WOULD TARGET THESE PEOPLE. THIS IS NOT SOME AMORPHOUS MASS, THESE ARE REAL HEROES, IN REAL TIME, RIGHT NOW. REMOVING THESE HEROES FROM YOUR COMMUNITY IN MY COMMUNITY WILL DO NOTHING BUT ENSURE CHAOS AND DESTRUCTION. POLICE OFFICERS ARE THE FRONTLINES, PUTTING THEMSELVES BETWEEN THE EVILDOERS AND AMERICANS. WE CAN AND SHOULD COMMIT TO POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY, BUT WE DO NOT NEED TO SHRED THE WALL. THERE ARE A FEW JOBS IN THE COUNTRY AS STRESSFUL AS POLICING. I RECEIVED A EMAIL OR TEXT A FEW TIMES OF YEAR NOTIFYING ME OF THE DEATH OF A POLICE OFFICER I KNEW, WORK WITH, OR HAD WORKED WITH. THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A MINUTE. GOD FORBID YOU FOUND OUT A COWORKER OF YOURS WAS KILLED IN THE COURSE OF DOING THEIR JOB. YOU JUST GET A TEXT. YOU GOT THIS A COUPLE OF TIMES A YEAR. THAT IS POLICING. THAT IS WHAT THEY DO. THEY RISK THEIR OWN LIVES FOR YOURS. I WILL SAY IN CLOSING I SPOKE AT A EVENT YEARS AGO AND A SPOUSE OF ONE OF THESE HEROES SAID THIS. “THE MOST WONDERFUL SOUND IN THE WORLD FOR THE SPOUSE OF A POLICE OFFICER IS THE SOUND OF VELCRO AT NIGHT.” THAT IS HOW A POLICE OFFICER’S BODY ARMOR IS SECURE TO THEIR BODY AND WHEN THAT COMES OFF AND A SOUND ECHOES IN THEIR EARS, THE FAMILIES OF THESE HEROES KNOW THEY ARE FINALLY HOME SAFELY. I ASK YOU WITH THE GREATEST OF RESPECT AND HUMILITY, PLEASE STOP THE DEFUND THE POLICE ABOMINATION BEFORE SOMEBODY GETS HURT. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.
And some reaction to Bongino’s speech:
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