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For more than 100 years, the role of has been filled by a career agent with previous bureau experience and an insider's understanding of day-to-day operations of federal law enforcement. As the FBI's own website , the deputy director "oversees all FBI domestic and international investigative and intelligence activities."

In a break with tradition, the Trump administration instead tapped Dan Bongino, a former U.S. Secret Service agent turned pro-Trump influencer.

For the last several years Bongino has ranted against the FBI on his podcast, saying it should be "disbanded immediately" and calling agents "thugs." Bongino will now help run federal law enforcement as the number two official at the FBI, behind

Patel himself has expressed a number of and is the first FBI director to win confirmation with the support of only one political party.

Given Bongino's role as a right-wing political commentator, his podcast monologues provide a unique blueprint to understanding how he might approach his role as one of the top law enforcement officials in the country, with vast powers to initiate and guide criminal investigations. To analyze Bongino's views, NPR reviewed more than a thousand videos posted by "The Dan Bongino Show."

On his show, Bongino embraced conspiracy theories about supposed complicity of the FBI in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack; called for investigating and imprisoning former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden; and discussed his own belief in the "spirit realm" and his view that some Democrats were infected with "demon energy."

The FBI declined to comment.

Bongino called FBI agents "thugs," recommended the elimination of the bureau

Bongino, like Trump, has embraced the narrative that the FBI was "weaponized" against conservatives. His views intensified after the FBI searched Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in 2022 for classified documents that were allegedly improperly withheld.

"The FBI is a fully now corrupt organization," Bongino audience in September 2022. "This agency serves no good purpose anymore. The agency needs to be disbanded."

Bongino called former FBI Director Christopher Wray, whom Trump appointed in 2017, a "" and "." But he did not limit his criticism to just FBI leadership.

Bongino has repeatedly called for the FBI to be eliminated, its agents to be "screened" for loyalty and political bias, and mass firings.

Bongino has also suggested that FBI employees could ," in his view, "crushing" Americans' civil liberties.

Bongino told his audience in another episode that the FBI had turned the United States into a "police state," which he compared to dictatorial regimes around the world. He also warned that Americans could eventually face mass "systemic violence" from the government.

Bongino also told his audience that they should not cooperate with law enforcement if they are conservative.

Conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 attack

Bongino has argued that Democrats "stole" the 2020 election, citing multiple conspiracy theories over the years. He promoted the 2,000 Mules, which alleged a wide-ranging scheme to stuff ballot boxes. in multiple states said that the, and both the filmmaker, Dinesh D'Souza, and the film's producer, Salem Media, have and .

Bongino also repeatedly suggested that the election technology company Dominion Voting Systems may have committed wrongdoing in the 2020 election, citing the pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell as a reliable source.

In Jan. 2021, Dominion Voting Systems sued Powell, among others, for defamation, that she made "wild" and "demonstrably false" claims about the company. Powell has denied the allegations and the case remains ongoing. (Fox News, which itself aired false claims about Dominion, paid the company more than $787 million as part of a ) Separately, in 2023, Powell in Georgia to six misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to commit intentional interference with the performance of election duties connected to her conduct around the 2020 election. She was sentenced to six years' probation.

Bongino has also accused the FBI itself of involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, and particularly the placement of pipe bombs outside of the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee headquarters. The bombs never detonated. The the pipe bomber case remains unsolved and there is a $500,000 reward for information leading to the perpetrator's arrest and conviction.

According to Bongino, it was an "inside job" and the FBI should look at the government itself to find the bomber.

In Bongino's telling, the pipe bombs were part of a broader government conspiracy on Jan. 6 to steal the 2020 election.

"The left is evil"

Throughout his media career, Bongino has portrayed himself as a fierce partisan warrior.

"My entire life right now is about owning the libs," Bongino . "That's it."

Going beyond political disagreement with Democrats and the political left, Bongino has said, "the left is evil" and actively "destroying the country."

At times, Bongino, who identifies as Christian, has discussed his belief in the spiritual realm and demons. On multiple episodes, he has described what he believes was a supernatural encounter on the night his mother died. Bongino said he was alone in his house and "."

"I never really thought that spiritual world intersected with our material world here," Bongino said. "That all changed that night."

Democrats, he has said, are among those infected with "demon energy."

Bongino has said that conservatives and MAGA need to fight back against the political left by imposing what he calls "real material losses."

Support for investigating and imprisoning Democrats and other Trump targets

During the 2024 presidential campaign, President Trump made to investigate, prosecute and otherwise punish his perceived enemies. Bongino has made similar statements on the air for the last several years. As deputy director of the FBI, he could exercise significant influence over federal criminal investigations.

Investigations and imprisonment are among the "material losses" Bongino has said he supports imposing on Trump's political opponents.

Before Trump won reelection, Bongino said Republican state attorneys general should initiate investigations into Biden and his family.

On other episodes of his show, Bongino said that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton " that former President Barack Obama "," and U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff "."

Bongino, echoing Trump, has also called for charges of treason against the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley. Trump has suggested that , because he called officials in China to try and defuse international tensions in the chaotic aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack.

Biden issued a preemptive pardon for Milley and Schiff, among others, on his final day in office.

In addition to Democrats, Bongino has also for prosecuting people in the Black Lives Matter movement and Antifa using racketeering and terrorism charges.

And he has agreed with Trump's calls to investigate former special counsel Jack Smith.

Smith led the two federal prosecutions of Trump for allegedly trying to corruptly overturn the 2020 election and mishandling classified documents and obstructing justice. Those cases were formally dismissed after Trump won the 2024 election.

"I have no problem with Donald Trump investigating Jack Smith either. And you shouldn't either. Jack Smith doesn't have a pardon," on his show on Jan. 23.

Already, there are signs that the Trump Administration is pursuing some of the president's perceived enemies and rivals. The interim U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C., Ed Martin, has indicated that he is opening an investigation to a law firm, Covington & Burling, that provided pro bono legal services to Smith.

"Save your receipts, Smith and Covington. We'll be in touch soon. #NoOneIsAboveTheLaw," Martin posted on the .

Martin has also initiated inquiries into Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the U.S. Senate, and Robert Garcia, a Democratic Congressman from California, over political comments that Martin considered threatening.

"We have a constitutional right to criticize the administration and the actions of Elon Musk," Garcia in response to Martin's letter announcing an inquiry. "Trump's Department of Justice should not work to silence Members of Congress. We will not back down."

The federal courts could provide a check on potentially retaliatory uses of the federal government's powers to investigate and prosecute people.

Shortly before he joined the administration, Bongino said on his show that Trump should ignore court orders that temporarily blocked cuts from the Department of Government Efficiency.

"My recommendation is Donald Trump should ignore this," "This judge is obviously not acting constitutionally at all, it should be ignored."

One conflict with Trump? Opposition to the death penalty

While Bongino is in lockstep with Trump on virtually every major issue, they do have one major policy disagreement when it comes to criminal law: Bongino opposes the death penalty.

On his first day in office, Trump issued an stating that "Capital punishment is an essential tool for deterring and punishing those who would commit the most heinous crimes and acts of lethal violence against American citizens." The order calls for the Department of Justice, which includes the FBI, to seek the death penalty in cases of the "murder of a law-enforcement officer" or "a capital crime committed by an alien illegally present in this country."

On his show, Bongino has acknowledged that his opposition to the death penalty puts him at odds with Trump.