Dan Bongino, a Trump-appointed FBI official, is scrambling to spin a damaging New York Times report before it drops.
Bongino, a former right-wing podcaster recently appointed as deputy director of the FBI by Donald Trump, took to social media on Saturday to preempt a New York Times “exposé” he says is coming. The focus? An embarrassing training session that left him injured—and now, under scrutiny.
Bongino named NYT reporter Adam Goldman directly.
“FYI, Adam Goldman of the NY Times is getting ready to run another one of their ‘journalism’ exposé pieces about me spending time in our FBI training facility ground fighting with our dedicated and skilled defensive tactics instructors,” Bongino wrote.
He admitted he didn’t come out on top during the session. “The instructor I was grappling with got the best of me, because he’s incredibly talented. That’s why he’s there.”
Bongino tried to downplay the injury. “It was not an ‘injury’ but a bit of swelling in my right elbow, not shoulder, because I’m 50 years old and I can’t recover like I used to.”
He added a jab at Goldman: “But I felt it was important to get on the mats any way, because that’s what men do. But Adam doesn’t know much about that. And he never will. Because he’s Adam, from the NY Times. Thanks, Dan.”
No word yet from Goldman or the Times. But Bongino clearly wanted to get ahead of the headlines.
