Kash Patel and Dan Bongino once fired up Trump supporters with promises to destroy the so-called deep state. Now, the same movement that cheered them into power is accusing them of joining it.
Trump supporters are livid. The conspiracy theories they believed would finally be proven with Patel and Bongino in charge are still going nowhere. Worse, some now think the pair are protecting the very secrets they once vowed to expose.
“I’ve reviewed the case. Jeffrey Epstein killed himself,” Bongino said bluntly on X after a Fox News interview. “There’s no evidence in the case file indicating otherwise.”
That was the final straw for many. Epstein’s death is one of the core conspiracy theories in MAGA circles—seen not as a suicide, but a cover-up to protect powerful elites. Bongino’s statement hit like a betrayal.
Shawn Ryan, a MAGA-aligned podcast host, told Tucker Carlson he flat-out didn’t believe Bongino. “I’ve dug into that, and it’s just so spooky what’s going on with that,” he said. Glenn Beck, another once-reliable ally, said he still hadn’t seen enough proof to call Epstein’s death a suicide.
It’s not just about Epstein. Patel and Bongino’s failure to deliver arrests, indictments, or any bombshell declassifications has MAGA supporters turning on them fast. What started as frustration is now full-blown suspicion.
Even Fox News host Maria Bartiromo wasn’t convinced during their interview. “With all due respect, we’ve been talking about this for a long time. And I’ve been demanding accountability for many, many years,” she told them. She pointed out that major names like Jim Comey and Peter Strzok still walk free.
Patel admitted the criticism was “fair” but claimed he and Bongino had only recently taken office and were limited by statute of limitations. That didn’t sit well with MAGA hardliners who expected action, not excuses.
These were supposed to be the ultimate outsiders: Patel, a former GOP staffer and Trump national security aide; Bongino, an ex-cop and Secret Service agent turned firebrand podcaster. They made their names blasting the FBI as corrupt and vowing to gut the establishment. Now they’re wearing suits inside the very agency they once called the enemy.
And to MAGA diehards, that makes them look like traitors.
The FBI, under Patel’s leadership, has made some high-profile moves—a judge arrested in Wisconsin, an extradition tied to the 2021 Abbey Gate bombing, and declassified files related to the Trump-Russia investigation. But for the base, none of that matters if the “deep state” remains untouched.
They want Comey in cuffs. They want Obama-era officials exposed. They want Epstein’s killer named. And when Bongino says, “There’s no evidence,” they hear one thing: cover-up.
Patel tried to calm the storm. “You’re about to see a wave of transparency,” he told Bartiromo.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Just give us about a week or two,” he replied.
But the MAGA base has waited years. Many now believe they’ve been played—not by the left, but by their own.
To them, Patel and Bongino were supposed to blow the lid off Washington. Instead, they’ve become everything they claimed to fight.
In the eyes of MAGA’s most diehard believers, Patel and Bongino aren’t just failing to take down the deep state. They are the deep state now.
