Patel, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich were among those who witnessed Bondi and Bongino’s altercation on Wednesday at the White House.
During the discussion, Bongino was questioned about a NewsNation report claiming that he and Patel had requested additional information regarding Epstein previously but were kept back. Bongino refuted any disclosure of the concept.
“Pam said her piece. Dan said his piece. It didn’t end on friendly terms,” said one person briefed on the heated discussion. Bongino left angry, the source said.
“The fact is, Dan was for releasing the information with the video and had no problem until he got heat online,” a senior administration official told Axios.
“Bongino found the video with the missing minute. He vouched for it after a ‘thorough review,’ he said, and he thought this would end the matter. When that didn’t work, he lost his mind and ran out of D.C.”
Said a pro-Bongino source: “Dan is not the bad guy here. He shouldn’t take the fall.”
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche weighed in Friday morning on X, saying that he “worked closely with @FBIDirectorKash and @FBIDDBongino on the joint FBI and DOJ memo regarding the Epstein Files. All of us signed off on the contents of the memo and the conclusions stated in the memo.”
“The suggestion by anyone that there was any daylight between the FBI and DOJ leadership on this memo’s composition and release is patently false,” Blanche added.