Dan Bongino Suffers Fresh Embarrassment After Epstein Files Tantrum
The appointment by Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, which Fox News reported Monday, comes after Bongino clashed with Bondi and threatened to resign over the Trump administration's handling of files relating to Jeffrey Epstein, the dead sex offender.
Bailey, a staunch Trump defender who has been in the role since January 2023, thanked the president and Bondi 'for the opportunity to serve in the mission to Make America Safe Again,' he wrote on X, adding: 'I will protect America and uphold the Constitution."
Bongino was selected to serve as the FBI's sole deputy director in February, starting in the role in March.
Despite the apparent downgrade for Bongino, the former Secret Service agent and Fox News host posted a message of support for Bailey. 'Welcome,' he wrote, along with three American flags.
When reached for comment, Patel told the Daily Beast in a statement that the bureau 'will always bring the greatest talent this country has to offer in order to accomplish the goals set forth when an overwhelming majority of American people elected President Donald J. Trump again.'
He added: 'Andrew Bailey will be an integral part of this important mission and I look forward continued fight to save America together.'
Bongino's break with Bondi last month, which stemmed from the FBI and Justice Department's review of the Epstein case, caused long-lasting headaches for the administration, with the president having to complain publicly about his supporters.
'What's going on with my 'boys' and, in some cases, 'gals?' They're all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB!' he wrote on Truth Social.
Weeks later, after the situation had cooled a bit, Bongino posted a lengthy yet vague message on X, which only led to more scrutiny from the public.
'What I have learned in the course of our properly predicated and necessary investigations into these aforementioned matters, has shocked me down to my core,' he wrote. 'We cannot run a Republic like this. I'll never be the same after learning what I've learned.'
'We are going to conduct these righteous and proper investigations by the book and in accordance with the law,' he added. 'We are going to get the answers WE ALL DESERVE. As with any investigation, I cannot predict where it will land, but I can promise you an honest and dignified effort at truth. Not 'my truth,' or 'your truth,' but THE TRUTH.'
Bailey, as Missouri's top law enforcement officer, has taken no shortage of Trump-friendly positions. He argued against Trump's prosecution for mishandling classified documents, and in 2024 sued New York state to try to stay Trump's sentencing for felony business fraud. He also sued to block former President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan, and investigated liberal watchdog group Media Matters for America after it reported on ads running beside pro-Nazi content on X.
Bailey's appointment is set to take effect Sept. 8.
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Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
What we know about video allegedly showing captured US tank flying Russian and American flags
In August 2025, as U.S. President Donald Trump prepared to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Russian broadcaster RT circulated a video that claimed to authentically show a captured U.S. tank in Ukraine flying both U.S. and Russian flags. Days before the video started circulating, Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska in an unsuccessful bid to secure a peace deal in the war in Ukraine. RT said the footage showed a captured U.S. M113 armored personnel carrier near Mala Tochmacka, an embattled village in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The broadcaster claimed it had received the footage from a soldier in the field. Though RT's report reflected verified details about which Russian forces were fighting near Mala Tochmacka, the video also displayed signs of the use of artificial intelligence. Due to a lack of corroborating evidence, Snopes could not confirm the video's authenticity. In August 2025, days after U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin's unsuccessful bid to end the war in Ukraine through a summit in Alaska, a video (archived) circulated online that claimed to authentically show a captured U.S. tank in Ukraine flying U.S. and Russian flags. One version of the video, posted on a pro-Ukraine X account, had more than 690,000 views at the time of this writing. The video also circulated on Facebook (archived), Threads (archived), Instagram (archived), Bluesky (archived) and TikTok (archived). Additionally, Snopes readers wrote in asking whether the video was authentic. The video quickly drew ire from Ukrainian officials. Andriy Yermak, the head of the office of the president of Ukraine, posted (archived) the video on Telegram, describing it as the work of "propagandists" and "the height of insolence." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Trump on Aug. 18, the date the video started circulating, to continue discussions about how to end the war. Snopes could not independently verify where or when the video was recorded. The footage came from RT (archived), previously known as Russia Today, a broadcaster that the European Union suspended shortly after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 for practices of "disinformation and information manipulation." RT said it got the footage from soldiers operating near Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, where fighting had been ongoing since 2022. Snopes, which does not rely on anonymous sources, could not independently verify RT's source. The footage also showed signs of possibly having been created or manipulated by artificial intelligence. The flags on the tank appeared unnaturally bright compared with the rest of the footage. In one clip, the Russian flag appeared to suddenly morph in and out of existence. Given the lack of verifiable information about this video, we could not give it a rating at the time of this writing. We reached out to Vlad Andritsa, the journalist who RT said initially received the footage from Russian soldiers in the field, for information about how he verified it and await a reply. Morphing flags raised AI suspicions Three clips in RT's 46-second video showed a tank, reportedly a captured U.S. M113 armored vehicle, flying Russian and U.S. flags. In the first clip, the vehicle drove along a paved road lined by electricity wires. The flags waved as they would be expected to if they were attached to a moving vehicle but appeared very bright compared with the surrounding green, gray and brown landscape. In the second clip, the Russian flag suddenly appeared to morph in and out of existence. Frame-by-frame analysis of this clip (around time code 0:21) showed the Russian flag change shape from a white blob to a blue-and-white blob and back to a white blob. 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Ukrainian officials and Russian war-focused Telegram channels (archived) said fighting occurred near Mala Tochmacka in early August, around a week before RT posted the video of the tank allegedly carrying the U.S. and Russian flags. According to both the above information and geolocated footage published by Ukrainian (time code 0:34, archived) and Russian (time code 2:48) military channels, Ukrainian forces struck Russian armored vehicles near Mala Tochmacka on Aug. 10. However, none of this footage appeared to show the alleged M113 carrying the U.S. and Russian flags. According to the Institute for the Study of War, a nonpartisan public-policy research organization documenting armed conflicts around the world, fighting near Mala Tochmacka continued until Aug. 18, the most recent report at the time of this writing. The ISW reported that the 70th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment was involved in these clashes. 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PRICE. "For Trump and Putin, Handshakes on a Red Carpet and a Joint Limo Ride, Then an Abrupt Ending." AP News, 15 Aug. 2025, CORBET, SYLVIE, et al. "Trump Begins Planning for Putin-Zelenskyy Meeting While Affirming US Help with Security Guarantees." AP News, 18 Aug. 2025, Council of the EU. "EU Imposes Sanctions on State-Owned Outlets RT/Russia Today and Sputnik's Broadcasting in the EU." Council of the European Union, March 2, 20222, Harward, Christina, et al. "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 13, 2025." Institute for the Study of War, 13 Aug. 2025, "M113 Family of Vehicles." BAE Systems, Accessed 19 Aug. 2025. Malyasov, Dylan. "Vietnam-Era M113s Save Lives in Ukraine War." Defence Blog, 10 Jan. 2025, Sobieski, Jessica, et al. "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 18, 2025." Institute for the Study of War, 18 Aug. 2025, "Влад Андрица." Telegram, Командование Мотострелкового Полка Из Чечни Пытается Скрыть Саботаж Среди Военных в Украине. 14 Jun. 2022, "Рапортували, що закріпилися в тюрмі" — поблизу Оріхового три години відбивали штурм російської "броні". Accessed 19 Aug. 2025.
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