Dan Bongino was born on December 4, 1974, in New York City. He is an American conservative commentator, author, and former law enforcement officer.
He served as the 20th deputy director of the FBI from March 2025 to January 2026.
Who is Dan Bongino?
Dan Bongino built his public career across three distinct paths: law enforcement, media, and government. He spent 16 years as a police officer and Secret Service agent before becoming one of conservative media’s most prominent podcast hosts.
In February 2025, President Donald Trump appointed him deputy director of the FBI.
That appointment marked an unusual move, since the role has traditionally gone to a career agent rather than a media figure.
Bongino served in the post for roughly ten months before announcing his departure in December 2025.
Early Life of Dan Bongino
Bongino was born and raised in Queens, New York City. He is of Italian descent, and he graduated from Archbishop Molloy High School, a Catholic all-male school in Jamaica, Queens, in 1992.
He grew up in a working-class New York household before pursuing higher education in psychology.
Bongino attended Queens College, where he earned both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in psychology.
Dan Bongino Age
Dan Bongino is 51 years old as of 2026, born on December 4, 1974. His zodiac sign is Sagittarius.
He built his entire second career in conservative media after turning 40, following an earlier decade in law enforcement.
Bongino has quite a charming appearance and a cool personality. He has a height of about 5 feet 7 inches or 170 centimeters or 1.70 meters.
Dan Bongino has a weight of about 70 kg or 154 lbs. He looks as fit as ever and does follow a strict diet and routine to stay healthy.
He has dark brown eyes and brown hair and an attractive face. However, he has a very warm and loving personality.
Dan Bongino Ethnicity and Nationality
Dan Bongino is an American citizen, born and raised in New York City. He is of Italian descent, a background that has shaped how he has discussed his working-class Queens upbringing in interviews and on his podcast.
His Catholic education at Archbishop Molloy High School also reflects that background. Bongino has often referenced his New York roots when describing his approach to law enforcement and public service.
Dan Bongino Education
Bongino’s academic path centered on Queens College in New York, where he completed both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in psychology.
That training later informed the psychological and behavioral angle he has brought to his commentary on law enforcement and politics.
He went on to earn a Master of Business Administration from Pennsylvania State University.
The combination of a psychology background and a business degree gave him a foundation that spanned behavioral science and organizational management.
He has cited education as part of his preparation for both his law enforcement career and his later work in media.
Dan Bongino Career
Law Enforcement Career
Bongino worked as a New York City Police Department officer from 1995 to 1999. He then joined the United States Secret Service in 1999 as a special agent.
In 2002, he left the New York Field Office to become an instructor at the Secret Service Training Academy in Beltsville, Maryland.
In 2006, Bongino was assigned to the Presidential Protection Division during George W. Bush’s second term.
He remained on that protective detail after Barack Obama became president, staying until May 2011, when he left to run for the U.S. Senate in Maryland.
Media Career and Political Runs
After leaving the Secret Service, Bongino ran for office three times as a Republican and lost each race. He challenged incumbent Democrat Ben Cardin for the U.S. Senate in Maryland in 2012, then ran for Maryland’s 6th congressional district in 2014, narrowly losing to John Delaney by 1.5 percentage points.
He made a third run in Florida’s 19th congressional district in 2016, placing third in the Republican primary.
Following those campaigns, Bongino built a career as an author and broadcaster. He published his first book, Life Inside the Bubble, in 2013, detailing his time protecting Presidents Bush and Obama.
He launched The Dan Bongino Show as a podcast in 2017, and in 2021 he began hosting Unfiltered with Dan Bongino on Fox News, a role he held until leaving the network in April 2023.
FBI Deputy Director and Return to Media
On February 23, 2025, Trump announced Bongino as the incoming deputy director of the FBI, working under Director Kash Patel. Bongino took office on March 17, after ending his media commitments three days earlier.
During his tenure, Bongino took a public role in reopening investigations into the January 5, 2021 pipe bombs found near the RNC and DNC headquarters, along with the 2022 leak of the Dobbs draft opinion.
On December 4, 2025, the FBI arrested a suspect, Brian Cole Jr., in the pipe bomb case. Attorney General Pam Bondi credited the arrest partly to Bongino and Patel’s work, though some current and former officials disputed that characterization to CNN.
Bongino announced on December 17, 2025, that he would step down as deputy director in January 2026, and he officially left the post on January 3, 2026.
He returned to podcasting the same month, relaunching The Dan Bongino Show on January 22, 2026, and later returned to Fox News in a contributor role in February 2026.
Dan Bongino Political Career and Notable Coverage
Bongino has drawn extensive coverage for promoting unproven claims about the 2016 and 2020 elections.
The Associated Press reported that he became one of the leading voices spreading false information about the 2020 election, claims that judges and former Trump Attorney General William Barr have rejected.
An NBC News analysis of his podcast transcripts from 2017 to 2025 found more than 21,000 mentions of the FBI or the “deep state.”
He also promoted the Spygate theory, which alleges improper surveillance of Trump’s 2016 campaign, and The New York Times has described his commentary as fueling right-wing disbelief in federal law enforcement institutions.
During his FBI tenure, he briefed Republican senators in October 2025 on records related to the Arctic Frost investigation into the January 6 pipe bomb case.
Dan Bongino Books
Bongino has authored several books centered on his law enforcement background and political commentary.
His titles include Life Inside the Bubble (2013), The Fight: A Secret Service Agent’s Inside Account of Security Failings and the Political Machine (2016), Spygate: The Attempted Sabotage of Donald J. Trump (2019), and Follow the Money (2020).
His 2019 book Exonerated appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list, though the paper noted the ranking carried a symbol indicating bulk sales had influenced its placement.
Dan Bongino Wife
Dan Bongino is married to Paula Andrea, née Martinez, who was born in Colombia. The couple has two daughters.
In 2012, Bongino and his wife ran three home-based businesses together, including a martial arts apparel line and a security consulting firm, which he said they later closed.
The family lived in Severna Park, Maryland, from 2002 until 2015, when they relocated to Palm City, Florida.
Dan Bongino Net Worth
Dan Bongino’s estimated net worth is $150 million as of 2026. His wealth comes primarily from his media career, including his podcast and radio syndication deals, along with a significant ownership stake in the video platform Rumble.
He has been described as one of Rumble’s largest individual shareholders, holding a stake that grew substantially in value as the platform expanded.
Dan Bongino Social Media
Dan Bongino maintains an active presence on X, where he has posted updates throughout both his FBI tenure and his return to the media.
His podcast, The Dan Bongino Show, streams on Rumble following his relaunch in January 2026.
He also returned to Fox News as a contributor in February 2026, adding a cable news platform back to his media presence.
The Bottom Line
Dan Bongino spent 16 years in law enforcement, including six years protecting Presidents Bush and Obama as a Secret Service agent.
He later built The Dan Bongino Show into one of the country’s most-listened-to conservative podcasts before Trump named him FBI deputy director in February 2025.
He grew up in Queens, New York, the son of an Italian American family, and carried that background into a public career built on law enforcement credentials and media reach. His investment in Rumble became a defining part of his financial profile alongside his broadcasting work.
Bongino left the FBI in January 2026 and returned to podcasting within weeks, relaunching his show on Rumble and rejoining Fox News as a contributor that February. His career continues to move between government service and conservative media.
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