<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino has told people he is considering resigning amid a major clash between the FBI and Justice Department over the continued fallout from the release of the Jeffrey Epstein memo, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>This comes after a heated confrontation with Attorney General Pam Bondi over the handling of the case earlier this week.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The infighting over the case came to a head during a Wednesday meeting, which included Bongino, Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, the sources said.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/temporary-skills-shortage-visa-changes-could-see-caitlin-deported/703e3977-d0d2-4b61-8a95-3f0653832c62"><strong><span>Caitlin is facing deportation over two weeks of missed work</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Bongino and Patel were confronted about whether they were behind a story that said the FBI wanted more information released but was ultimately stymied by the Department of Justice, they said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Bongino denied leaking that notion to NewsNation, which published the story, a source familiar with the matter told CNN, though he did not sign on to a statement defending the review included in that article.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>CNN has reached out to Bongino and the FBI for comment.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/deputy-fbi-director-bongino-considering-resigning-amid-epstein-files-fallout/7b060fc0-db6e-4f55-9ce4-94366b36e54e" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The sources cautioned that Bongino had not made up his mind, and it was possible he would stay in his position.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Axios first reported some of the details of Bongino's confrontation at the White House.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The episode comes as many of President Donald Trump's close advisers, both inside and outside of the White House, have grown increasingly frustrated with Bondi's handling of the so-called Epstein files, following days of intense criticism from some of the president's most devoted supporters.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/melbourne-mp-sarah-witty-adam-bandt-federal-election/129262f4-54d4-4016-bf2e-e04b9773481f"><strong><span>Sarah Witty didn't plan to run in the federal election. Then she toppled a political giant</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Multiple sources said Bongino did not come to work Friday, fueling speculation he had quit over the issue.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>One of those sources said that as of Friday afternoon he had not left his position.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The whole thing has been a complete mess and no one is happy," a source briefed on the matter told CNN.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Epstein is a disgraced financier and convicted sex offender whose criminal case has long captured significant public attention, in part because of his ties to wealthy and high-profile people.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In August 2019, while he was awaiting trial in a federal criminal case, Epstein was found unresponsive in his cell at New York's Metropolitan Correctional Centre. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>His death was ruled a suicide.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The death, though, was heavily scrutinised, and during his 2024 campaign, Trump said that he would consider releasing additional government files on the case.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Many of the president's supporters hoped that release would implicate other high-profile figures, or undercut the notion that Epstein killed himself.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/trump-tours-texas-flood-sites-and-defends-officials-amid-mounting-questions-about-response/7659dd19-e326-4f50-aa8a-14fb4cbf423b"><strong><span>Trump calls reporter 'evil' during visit to Texas town devastated by flood</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But the Justice Department announced in a memo on Monday that there was no evidence he kept a "client list" or was murdered, fuelling rage and suspicion among many in MAGA world.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>FBI and Justice officials had been at odds for months about the handling of the Epstein files review.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But the tension spilled out publicly on Friday, when far-right provocateur Laura Loomer, who is close with people in the administration, wrote on social media that Bongino and Patel were "LIVID" with Bondi over the Epstein case.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She wrote Bongino was "taking the day off today from his job as Deputy Director of the FBI, and there's now speculation on whether or not he will return to his job."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche denied a rift between Justice Department and FBI leadership in a post on X Friday, saying that "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."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/usa-plague-northern-arizona-resident-dies-from-plague/0105f663-5b94-48ac-8ae9-28a9df9a0090"><strong><span>Person dies from the plague in America</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>White House deputy press secretary Harrison Fields said Trump has "assembled a highly qualified and experienced law and order team dedicated to protecting Americans, holding criminals accountable, and delivering justice to victims."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This work is being carried out seamlessly and with unity," Fields said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Any attempt to sow division within this team is baseless and distracts from the real progress being made in restoring public safety and pursuing justice for all."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Bondi orchestrated an event at the White House in February with pro-Trump social media influencers to present binders of Epstein-related documents, though she later faced criticism when the MAGA influencers realized most of the documents had been public for years.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Patel had minimal involvement in that event.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>More recently, Bongino repeated promises that the files would be released, even as he tried to downplay their contents.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At least one of Bongino's frustrations relates to a 10-hour surveillance video taken outside of Epstein's Manhattan jail cell the day he died, a person familiar with the situation told CNN.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/denver-museum-of-nature-and-science-makes-a-find-deep-under-own-car-park-usa/0ee03c43-1f7c-470b-b7e6-8c822a1dd7b0"><strong><span>A US dinosaur museum makes a find deep under own parking lot</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As the investigators spent weeks combing through records related to the Epstein investigation, Bongino discovered the video, the person said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The deputy director was elated by the discovery, and he said it was definitive evidence that Epstein had not been murdered, they said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But after the video was released, members of the public and press observed that the video jumped forward, cutting out 60 seconds.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Bondi has publicly said the outdated recording system that produced the video resets every day at midnight and the same minute is skipped every evening.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Still, theories about what happened in that minute exploded online, and Bongino was blamed internally for the oversight.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Patel and Bongino have privately expressed frustration for months over the DOJ's handling of the case, stemming in part from an early interview where Bondi implied the FBI was still reviewing the case, while it had already been turned over to the Department of Justice, sources familiar with the matter said.</span></div></div>