Dan Bongino Appointment is Upsetting All the Right People
John Brennan’s CIA “operated like a branch office of the Hillary campaign.” Brennan would “shake down” foreign intelligence officials looking for anything to hang on Trump.
During a May 23, 2017 House Intelligence Committee hearing on Russian interference in the 2016 election, then-Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) asked former CIA Director John Brennan, “When you learned of Russian efforts, did you have evidence of a connection between the Trump campaign and Russian state actors?”
Brennan famously replied, “As I said, Mr. Gowdy, I don’t do evidence.”
Already shaken by President Trump’s appointment of Kash Patel as FBI Director, Brennan must have been apoplectic when he heard that the unfiltered, unapologetic, take no prisoners Dan Bongino was named Deputy Director. I can’t think of any two individuals who did more to dismantle the deep state’s conspiracy against Trump than Patel and Bongino.
Nor can I think of any one person who had more to do with promoting and maintaining the farce that Trump had colluded with the Kremlin to win the 2016 election than Brennan. The truth is that Brennan knew in July 2016 that the infamous dossier was nothing more than a collection of bogus stories commissioned by the DNC and the Hillary Clinton campaign and conjured up by former British spy Christopher Steele and his sub-sources.
According to Fox News, the first outlet to report the story, Brennan briefed then-President Barack Obama and others present during a July 28, 2016, Oval Office meeting on “Hillary Clinton’s purported ‘plan’ to tie then-candidate Donald Trump to Russia as ‘a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server’ ahead of the 2016 presidential election.'”
In October 2020, then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe declassified Brennan’s handwritten notes from that meeting along with other supporting documents. Although large portions of each document were redacted, their meaning was clear. Brennan knew, Obama knew, and the other attendees knew that Trump was being set up.
From the Fox report:
“We’re getting additional insight into Russian activities from [REDACTED]. “CITE [summarizing] alleged approved by Hillary Clinton a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisers to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security service,” the notes read.
The notes state “on 28 of July.” In the margin, Brennan writes “POTUS,” but that section of the notes is redacted.
“Any evidence of collaboration between Trump campaign + Russia,” the notes read.
The remainder of the notes are redacted, except in the margins, which reads: “JC,” “Denis,” and “Susan.”
The notes don’t spell out the full names but “JC” could be referring to then-FBI Director James Comey, “Susan” could refer to National Security Adviser Susan Rice, and “Denis” could refer to Obama chief of staff Denis McDonough.
According to The American Spectator’s George Neumayr, Brennan, who had an irrational fear that Donald Trump might win the presidency, ran with the Russian collusion narrative. He didn’t have to twist many arms to bring others on board, but his exhaustive search for “dirt” on Trump and his insistence that the FBI open a counterintelligence investigation were key.
Neumayr wrote that John Brennan’s CIA “operated like a branch office of the Hillary campaign.” He noted that Brennan would “shake down” foreign intelligence officials looking for anything to hang on Trump. He would present the information to then-FBI official Peter Strzok and other government officials. Strzok, as much as he hated Trump, famously told his paramour, FBI lawyer Lisa Page, that “there’s no there there.”
Brennan leaked news of his “probe” to then-Senator Harry Reid, who told reporters Brennan had an “ulterior motive” in leaking the existence of the probe to him, Neumayr reported. The very thought of Donald Trump as president “made Brennan see red and caused him to lose all judgment,” Reid said. But, regardless of what he believed, Reid wrote an open letter to James Comey on August 27, 2016, about the Trump-Russian collusion he had just been made privy to, and then the world knew about it.
Bongino pursued this story with relentless determination, and his daily podcast soared to the top of the charts. His investigation and deep understanding of Ukraine’s role in the conspiracy were unparalleled. He quickly zeroed in on the actions of Ukrainian lawyer and activist Alexandra Chalupa, a former DNC consultant who was instrumental in bringing the allegations of Trump-Russia collusion to international attention.
In his wildest dreams, Brennan couldn’t have imagined that Patel and Bongino would wind up at the helm of the FBI. Had a Republican committed even a fraction of the malfeasance Brennan has, they’d be behind bars. Now, he’ll likely have some serious explaining to do, and unfortunately for him, neither man will accept “I don’t do evidence” as an answer.
Politico reports the Patel/Bongino appointments have been met with 'utter despair by liberals, who had already grown fearful of a highly politicized FBI.' Can anyone argue with a straight face that the FBI has *not* been highly politicized for years? https://t.co/0eYO0y1Ekt
— Byron York (@ByronYork) February 24, 2025
Elizabeth writes commentary for The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation and a member of the Editorial Board at The Sixteenth Council, a London think tank. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
Wonder if they can get the setup on the phone they left in the Oval Office to spy. Would love to know all the spying they did. By leaving that phone in the office, did they put this country at risk to others that could hack the phone.
Brennan would look really good in stripes, and that does not mean as an NFL referee.
You can measure Brennan’s intelligence and general sense of wisdom when you’re informed that he choose to become a Muslim.
How stupid do you have to be?
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/cia-director-john-brennan-muslim/
Except that you’re not “informed” of that. It’s nothing but a stupid rumor. So how can it be used to measure his intelligence or sense of wisdom?
Mind you it wouldn’t surprise me if it were true, but there is simply no basis for believing that it is. There’s nothing in his record that would be inconsistent with it, but that’s not a reason to believe it.
Brennan has acted more like a Marxist than a Muslim.
Wait, wasn’t there a report of him voting for the Communist Party USA Presidential candidate?
There is no evidence of that. Brennan himself said that, although raised Catholic, he is now an agnostic.
I don’t know if Brennan is Muslim or not. I only know that the rumor/accusation has been going around for years. I read the above-linked Snopes “fact check” and note that it doesn’t clear up the question at all. It just casts doubt on the accusation, but doesn’t prove that it isn’t true.
Muslim or non-Muslim, I know that Brennan greatly abused his public trust. He is a disgrace to his former position.
I hope we all get to vote on exactly how many stripes.
He would also look really good in the dictionary, next to the word “constipation”.
We might agree on a good many things, but “diarrhea” is what came to mind for Brennan’s Pictionary entry, not “constipation”.
That might be the only work he can get now that he’s been stripped of his security clearances…😁
Aren’t there some statutes of limitations problems with most possible charges against Brennan?
Let us all pray for a yuge sting operation to rid this country of traitors, maleficients, ne’er-do-wells and crooks that apparently taken over every facet of government with the purpose of furthering their self-interests while denying the taxpayer.
I won’t be satisfied with anything less than the gallows.
How about drawing and quartering? 🙂
This is going to be good. I may need more popcorn.
The FBI has been corrupt since the get-go. Read any biography of J. Edgar Hoover. His name is on their building.
I don’t think it is salvageable. Close it down. Yes, there are probably some good field agents, but the perfumed princes in the Hoover building need to go, now.
I think the Patel/Bongino combo is our last, best chance. I am betting on the Deep State, but it should be a hell of a show.
Not sure corrupt is the right term for the early FBI. Politicized certainly but not corrupt.
A difference without a distinction
Politicized is corrupt.
What we need to do is revisit the Founders vision that the federal government would have no police powers. None. Not even police powers for the four federal crimes (only two of them domestic in the first place) defined in the constitution — the constitution specifically denotes the militia as their enforcement mechanism. Revisit it, readopt it, and make it work properly, regardless of what the federal government prefers.
Yeah, I remember when that politician in the 90s tried to argue for a “Jeffersonian” militia system instead of a standing army. If we’d done that, we’d all be speaking German.
Seemed to work for Switzerland and they don’t have the Atlantic Ocean between them and Germany. The Founders feared a large standing Army so much that on the heels of managing to defeat the British Empire we had an total authorization for a standing Army of something like 500 Men.
Entering WWII we had a relatively small Army. The large post WWII armed forces are a relative anomaly in our history as a Nation. The Soviet Union was defeated more than 3 decades ago. We can easily downside the Army and reduce somewhat the size of the USMC. The Navy should be expanded with more destroyers and submarines. AF is probably about right.
We’re not Switzerland. Those oceans don’t mean anything at all nowadays. And if the Nazis had actually chosen to invade Switzerland they would have rolled right through those citizen militias. And plans were made for the invasion.
In your example of WW2, our small army was singularly unready to fight a major war. Its equipment was poor, using rifles and machine guns from WW1. It had little in the way of proper military aircraft. Its artillery was terrible. We had the “luxury” then of having a couple of years to arm up for the invasion of Europe. Would we have anything of the sort nowadays? Hell, do we even have the manufacturing to produce a modern army anymore?
Similarly you’re leaving off the example of the War of 1812, which the country barely survived. The British marched south and burned Washington. We were utterly unprepared for the war.
The Founders lived in a time where oceans were walls, and we still got caught with our pants down more than once. And that was at a time when the military was guys with muskets and cannons. Now? We’re dealing with weapons so advanced that they can take years to master. Are we going to draft a bunch of people and train them with modern artillery in a few weeks? Teach draftees to be military helicopter pilots? Teach them modern squad movement?
Far from being a “relative anomaly in our history as a Nation,” we’ve had a large standing army for a third of our history. It’s necessary.
Switzerland is a land locked country. Made sense to leave them alone and use them for discreet banking and other diplomatic purposes. We are not Switzerland so the comparison is frankly ridiculous.
Otto,
‘Oceans don’t matter’. That is amazingly wrong. To launch a ground war v the USA they gotta get over here. Absent nuclear strikes it takes a ground force to defeat any opponent…Japan in WWII demonstrates this.
The speculation on your part about the ease of conquest over Switzerland seems to be ill informed given the similar force disparity in Finland v USSR. where the Finns inflicted well over 100K KIA and triple that in wounded. Mountains ain’t forgiving places to fight with an enemy who knows and can use the terrain. See Afghanistan.
Smaller.forces in the US doesn’t mean less well equipped. In fact it should be better equipped b/c excess personnel costs can be spent on top quality equipment. The post WWII size is an anomaly. It should have been abandoned after the end of the Cold War three decades + ago, which cuts your timeline nearly in half. Making a mistake over a long duration doesn’t make it not a mistake nor justify it FWIW.
The standing army specifically isn’t tasked with addressing domestic crime. Apples and oranges,
Virginia,
We’d be better off if we tried to be more like the Swiss. If CommoChief was in charge then every month we’d hold a muster of the ‘unorganized militia’. Here’s how:
Divide by birth Month. Then by last name then by odd/even last digit of SSA #.
So in your month of birth if your last name begins A-J and last digit is odd you show up on the first Saturday to muster. Same for even # but on second Saturday. Then K-Z odd on 3rd Sat, with even on 4th.Sat.
While there you get registered to vote and to serve on jury duty and in Sheriff Posse. You know the basics of civic duty/responsibilities that ‘residence within the State’ entails. Which is important to meet the requirements for 14A and determine Citizenship issues. Some.transient sleeping under an overpass or in the alley ain’t A ‘resident’ in this sense…nor is a tourist or an illegal alien.
Those who claim to be pacifists can be assigned as unarmed stretcher bearers with the militia. The elderly SSA full retirement age and the disabled can be assigned alternative tasks or excused entirely from militia service but still must show up to muster.
The FBI was originally created to investigate interstate/organized crime. Allegedly, the States did not have the investigative/enforcement authority for use against such crime.
Let’s go back to that model. Invest the FBI with nothing but investigative authority for interstate crime, with investigations initiated solely upon requests by the States for its assistance. Leave all enforcement to State authorities, with the authority to recommended federal prosecution to US district attorneys.
The authority to investigate and make recommendations (to its own parent organization) on its own investigative findings must be divorced from each other.
Think outside of the box. Instead of recreating the same mistake, think about what else could be done to give states the authority to investigate interstate crime. Interstate compacts come immediately to mind — states sure as hell don’t have any problem exercising the authority to cancel your DL for unpaid fines, tolls, and traffic violations out of state.
What are you talking about? Where is this coming from?
No, it doesn’t. It says the militia can be called out “to execute the laws of the union”, presumably when all other means have failed, but there’s no indication that the militia were to be the primary means of enforcement, let alone the only means.
“What are you talking about? Where is this coming from?”
Does “Enumerated Powers”ring a bell ?
At least jeh was proudly ant-communist when they rest of the gov couldn’t give a rats ass about foreign agents of influence. Ever read Stan evans great book re: mccarthy?
Kash is starting out right by making known his intent on sending 1,500 DC denizens out to the field. That is what draining the swamp looks like.
I think Patel’s order for Washington agents to go to the field. Is it for them to do fieldwork. It’s done with the idea that an awful lot of them will resign rather than actually having to do some work.
Doesn’t matter one way or the other if they do field work or resign. If they resign because they are not in DC they should not have been employed at the FBI. If they do accept postings to Fargo and SLC then our country gets good men and women out where they should be. Draining the swamp either way and a win for everyone.
We should all remember the old Klingon adage, “revenge is a dish best served cold.”
The investigation of Mr. Brennan should be done in proctological detail. Charge him with an exquisite sense of timing; October, 2026 has open dates on the court calendar. Bleed him in court the way so many conservatives and J6 defendants were bled. Be careful to respect his rights; I don’t want a conviction overturned on appeal.
Do to him in a DC court what was done to Mike Flynn and others. Only then will the Democrats get the message.
If by Klingon, you mean Sicilian…
Yes, the Klingons stole that one.
Their original adage is, “Only Kirk could go to Klingon.”
Like Shakespeare, it’s best in the original Klingon.
Or Spanish.
“. . . . sabrosa mas frio !”
“Do to him in a DC court…”
Here’s a problem. First, you must find a DC court judge willing to play ball. Then you must seat a jury other than one for which nothing short of the testimony of God would be required to convict a deep-stater.
A DC Court will never convict him of anything.
Add Clapper, Comey, McCabe, Vindman, Epps, put them through the process.
You need a charge that has a statute of limitations of 10 years or more to get Brennan. Most fed crimes are 5 or 7 years.
“Brennan leaked news of his “probe” to then-Senator Harry Reid … ”
Sign posted on a hotel in Nevada: “Will Rogers never met Harry Reid.”
Ever notice how in every picture of him ever taken, Brennan looks like he just crapped himself? That traitorous scumbag should be hung by the neck until dead, so he can crap himself one last time.
I believe being hung refers to a different part of the anatomy; however, few patriots would shed a tear were he to be hanged.
I really hope there is enough evidence that can result in the arrest of Brennan and others like him.
This country needs a through cleaning.
Some of these people should lose citizenship. What would it take to facilitate that?
Nothing. Once someone is a US citizen, whether by birth or by a legitimate naturalization, there is absolutely no way to revoke their citizenship without their consent.
OK, there is a way: pass a constitutional amendment first, to allow for revocation, and then go through whatever procedure that amendment provides.
Wrong. As has been explained to you many times a naturalized citizen can have that citizenship revoked and be deported. Why do you persist in say the opposite when it’s just not true?
You are wrong. Once someone is validly naturalized that citizenship CANNOT be revoked, and anyone who says it can is an ignoramus or a liar. Or both. I have cited the cases for you many times, so you can’t plead ignorance. You are simply a liar.
Now you got it correct. Someone Naturalized improperly / fraudulently most certainly can have their grant of Citizenship revoked and be deported. Rare to be sure but can and has happened.
Milhouse: John Demjanjuk and Rasmieh Yousef Odeh would beg to differ.
Just a shout out to Elizabeth. Great Post.
Thanks Mark! I appreciate it.
My impression is he goes a little too much for clickbait journalism.
I really don’t think so. The things he was uncovering were extremely disturbing – shocking even. Think about it. Democrats were trying to frame a presidential candidate with bogus information.
That, combined with the fact that he’s just a very intense person. I wrote for him a few years ago.
Where did you get that impression? From 2nd hand information?
Go to Rumble.com and watch a few of his programs and you will see he always backs up what he says “with receipts”.
He needs to be spirited off to Gitmo never to be heard from again.
He can’t be held in Guantanamo.
First, he is a U.S. citizen.
Second, his arrest would involve U.S. based LEOs. Federal courts say no.
A Costa Rican vacation, perhaps.
Drop him off and kick him out the gate then. He is welcome to wander around on Cuba as much as he likes.
Why not? Guantanamo Bay is American Soil. He can be held there just like he could be shipped to Puerto Rico or American Samoa.
But if we start holding American citizens in Gitmo, how long before the courts require the prisoners receive the rights of Americans accused of a crime?
Bongino and Gorka had the only good AM talk radio shows. AM radio is going to become total backwater now that they are both working inside the government.
I’m enjoying my morning drive, listening to Chris Stigall
So the Easter Island Moai-looking evil Deep Stater is upset about Patel & Bongino? That makes me smile.
For all those talking about investigating Brennan, one strong piece of evidence that he did not commit any crimes is that he’s one of the few that Biden didn’t pardon. If he were worried about prosecution, surely he would have arranged for his name to be put on that list with all the others. The most likely explanation is that he’s clean. The next most likely explanation is that he’s so arrogant that he imagines they can never find the evidence against him.
Unless who ever drew up those lists for pardoning hate a deep seated hatred for Brennan? 🤔 Hence why he is freaking out cause he knows he’s a dead man walking 😂
I’d be happy with an investigation of Brennan. A long, long, serious investigation, Ideally I’d like to see some waterboarding involved, but I guess we can’t.
Only a thorough investigation will tell us which.
Actually, you can find evidence to convict him in a video of Congressional testimony where he divulged means and methods of intelligence gathering, saying we were listening to Al Qaeda phone conversations. Then bin Laden and company stopped using cell phones.
Hmmm now I’m thinking the Epstein list is going to get used as a “break glass” thing to put the bad actors on their heels.
I think June 2028.
How will you hire the best lawyers when no USAID cash is left?
Re the baseless rumor that Brennan is a Moslem: There may not be any basis for believing that he is one himself, but there’s no question that, based on his behavior in office, Brennan Loves the Moors
Have a look at buzzsawmonkey’s other songs too. He never did find out why PJ Media dropped him.
The FBI needs to be completely removed from Washington, DC. Law enforcement assets should be farmed out to the 50 states…the existing FBI bureaucracy is corrupt and compromised by leftist activists…fire them ALL.
In order to join the FBI you must show proof of a purchase of a red hat and a Trump Bible. ( Patel did ,I’m quite sure!!)
OR else show pictures of yourself at the 1/6 ” stop the steal” partriot rally.