Attorney General Pam Bondi's handling of the Epstein files sparked outrage among conservatives, supporters of President Donald Trump, and even among FBI leadership.

The dramatic Epstein saga has caused a rift between FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino and Bondi in recent days, one source familiar with the matter confirmed to Blaze News. Other reports indicate that Bongino and FBI Director Kash Patel are both threatening to leave the bureau altogether unless Bondi is removed from office.

'Fire Pam Bondi. Keep Dan Bongino.'

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

As tensions emerge between the FBI and DOJ leadership, the MAGA base has made clear where its support lies.

"There is no question that the base is behind Bongino," conservative commentator and reporter Julie Kelly said in a post on X. "I respect Pam Bondi and understand the immense challenge at taking the reins of such a systemically corrupt agency. But the self inflicted wounds and unforced errors are consuming attention away from other DOJ/FBI achievements. Time is ticking away and something drastic needs to change immediately."

"It would be a huge loss for the country if we lost Dan Bongino at the FBI," TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk wrote in a post on X.

Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck made a similar appeal to Trump, urging him to put Bongino over Bondi.

"America can't lose Dan Bongino," Beck said in a post on Instagram. "He has so much credibility. Everybody knows him, loves him. Pam Bondi has created so much doubt and chaos in this whole thing. There's no reason for all of this."

"Either it's a massive cover-up, or she's just fouled this up every single time," Beck added. "Please, let's not lose Dan Bongino. If there's a choice — I hope not — but please, fire Pam Bondi. Keep Dan Bongino."

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Following Bondi's now-infamous Epstein memo, which the DOJ leaked to the Beltway corporate outlet Axios, the administration has spent days doing damage control. Trump reiterated his support for Patel and Bongino in a Truth Social post on Monday, though he notably refrained from providing Bondi with the same praise.

"The FBI, under the direction of Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino, is back to the basics: Locking up criminals, and cleaning up America’s streets." Trump said in the post. "We have the Greatest Law Enforcement professionals in the World, but 'Politics' and Corrupt Leadership often prevented them from doing their job. That is no longer the case, and now, they have been unleashed to do their jobs, and they are doing just that. Keep it up — MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN!"

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'Great victory' for free speech: Pro-Trump influencer convicted over memes talks vindication with Glenn Beck

An appeals court on Wednesday overturned the felony conviction of a pro-Trump social media influencer who was facing prison time for posting satirical memes on Twitter.

Douglass Mackey, also previously known online as Ricky Vaughn, joined "The Glenn Beck Program" on Thursday to share his reaction to the recent decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

'Unfortunately, it's not part of the sweeping constitutional ruling that we wanted, but nevertheless, it's a great victory.'

After battling the charges for four and a half years and facing a seven-month prison sentence, Mackey told Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck, "Only faith can get you through it."

— (@)

During the 2016 election, Mackey posted memes on his Twitter account, which he told Beck had about 10,000 followers. He noted that he previously had an account with over 60,000 followers, but it was suspended before he made the posts referenced in the Biden Department of Justice's case against him.

"Save time," the posts read. "Avoid the line."

It included instructions on how to "vote from home" for then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton via text message.

The posts received only about 100 likes, according to Mackey.

Beck stated, "You have to be a nincompoop to believe this [meme is real]."

Photo by JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images

Despite what some would argue was a clear satirical post, Mackey was convicted in 2023 of conspiracy against rights for attempting to interfere with Americans' right to vote in the 2016 election.

Mackey shared the details of his arrest with Beck.

"Four FBI agents knocked on my door at 7 a.m., and that was seven days after Joe Biden was inaugurated," he said. "They said, 'Are you Douglass Mackey? We have a warrant for your arrest.' The first words out of my mouth were, 'For what?'"

"At the time, I wasn't even on Twitter. But back in the 2016 election cycle, I tweeted thousands of times. So I had no idea. But I did know that once they make you an enemy that it's like, 'Show me the man, and I'll show you the crime,'" Mackey continued. "I was very curious to see what they had cooked up."

Chief Judge Debra Ann Livingston, one of the three judges on the appeals court panel, found that prosecutors' evidence was "inadequate to show his knowing participation in a conspiracy."

While prosecutors claimed that 4,900 unique phone numbers texted the number provided in Mackey's meme, 98% received an automated reply informing them that Clinton's campaign was not affiliated with the post, Livingston noted.

"The government presented no evidence at trial that Mackey's tweets tricked anyone into failing properly to vote," the judge wrote.

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images

Mackey called the case "a total humiliation" for the Biden DOJ.

He expressed some disappointment that the appeals court's decision was not a "sweeping" constitutional victory.

"These appellate courts, once they come to a conclusion on, let's say, one of the grounds, they don't rule on all the other grounds," Mackey explained. "Unfortunately, it's not part of the sweeping constitutional ruling that we wanted, but nevertheless, it's a great victory."

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The Epstein files may be Trump’s biggest liability yet

President Trump snapped at a reporter who asked him about Jeffrey Epstein on Tuesday.

Trump is massively misreading his base on this one — and it could cost him the midterms.

President Trump should not underestimate how much goodwill he’s lost among his base due to Pam Bondi’s mishandling of the Epstein files.

People care about the Epstein story, not only because of his sickening crimes against children but because evidence exists of a government cover-up.

Evidence like Epstein’s autopsy showing injuries incongruent with suicide; evidence like Buckingham Palace’s response to ABC’s nuked report on Epstein, Prince Andrew, and President Bill Clinton; evidence like former federal prosecutor Alex Acosta saying he was told to back off because Epstein “belonged to intelligence” and then discovering his Justice Department emails had mysteriously disappeared.

And now, government officials are telling us to ignore the evidence in front of our eyes and believe them — without evidence. Nope. Not happening. We voted for radical transparency and justice. We’re not letting it drop.

The president should not underestimate how much goodwill he’s lost among his base due to Attorney General Pam Bondi’s mishandling of the Epstein files. People are furious. I would know — I was collateral damage in Bondi’s infernal Epstein binder debacle. She should have been fired on the spot.

Country singer John Rich tells a story about eating dinner with Trump, who turned to him and asked — genuinely curious — “Why do people boo at my rallies when I brag about the COVID vaccine?” And then Trump listened to Rich’s answer: People were hurt by that jab.

President Trump should listen to his base about Epstein, too.

We have been hurt by the deep state weaponizing the government against us: calling us terrorists, censoring us when we questioned the outcome of the 2020 election, or the origin of COVID, or rejecting transgender ideology. Trump’s base has been insulted, targeted, subject to violence, arrest, and political persecution for supporting him and our America First agenda.

Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

Forgive us if we refuse to believe government officials now who are asking us to accept a narrative that contradicts the evidence we can see. We will no longer be subject to gatekeepers. Don’t insult our intelligence. Don’t belittle us.

We voted for President Trump because he promised justice.

Justice for COVID.
Justice for January 6 and the mysterious RNC and DNC pipe bombs.
Justice for Russiagate.
Justice for the phony Ukraine impeachment.
Justice for the lawfare against Trump.
Justice for censorship and Big Tech collusion.
Justice for jailed pro-lifers.
Justice for journalists targeted by the FBI.
Justice for parents labeled domestic extremists.

Justice isn’t dismissing those crimes and moving on. Justice means arresting the swamp creatures who perpetrated the crimes and dismantling the corrupt institutions that enabled them to do so.

That’s why the Epstein case is foundational. That’s why Trump’s base has a visceral reaction to being told we would get the Epstein files — and now we are told we’re getting nothing.

Bondi didn’t tell us the truth. She seems more interested in being a Fox News star than keeping promises. Something is fishy about the Epstein stuff — his racket, his death, his friends, his alleged intelligence agency connections. Patting us on the head and telling us “nothing to see here” is infuriating. It will not do.

President Trump should not underestimate the significance of this moment. He’s losing goodwill by the day — and Bondi is to blame.

Trump is smart. He cares about his base. He listens. He should listen now, so that it doesn’t cost him the midterms.

Trump's DOJ nabs Chinese agent accused of global CCP plot to steal COVID research

Amid the Trump administration's efforts to curb the Chinese Communist Party's influence in the U.S., the Department of Justice announced the arrest of a CCP agent accused of worldwide computer intrusions related to COVID-19 research.

Xu Zewei, 33, and Zhang Yu, 44, are facing a nine-count indictment for allegedly "hacking and stealing crucial COVID-19 research at the behest of the Chinese government while that same government was simultaneously withholding information about the virus and its origins," stated Nicholas Ganjei, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas.

'Through HAFNIUM, the CCP targeted over 60,000 U.S. entities, successfully victimizing more than 12,700 in order to steal sensitive information.'

Federal authorities alleged that the Ministry of State Security's Shanghai State Security Bureau directed Xu to perform computer intrusions between February 2020 and June 2021.

Xu allegedly targeted American universities, immunologists, and virologists to obtain information on COVID-19 research related to vaccines, treatment, and testing.

In February 2020, Xu informed the SSSB that he had breached the "network of a research university located in the Southern District of Texas," the DOJ reported. An SSSB officer then reportedly instructed him to target email accounts belonging to certain virologists and immunologists.

Brett Leatherman, the assistant director of the FBI's Cyber Division, explained that Xu and his co-conspirators later operated as a group known as HAFNIUM, which "exploited zero-day vulnerabilities in U.S. systems to steal additional research."

"Through HAFNIUM, the CCP targeted over 60,000 U.S. entities, successfully victimizing more than 12,700 in order to steal sensitive information," Leatherman said.

Photo Illustration by Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

In late 2020, HAFNIUM allegedly breached the Microsoft Exchange Server, impacting computers worldwide, including a law firm and another university in the Southern District of Texas.

Microsoft announced the breach in March 2021, describing HAFNIUM as a "state-sponsored" group "operating out of China." It noted that the hackers had targeted "infectious disease researchers, law firms, higher education institutions, defense contractors, policy think tanks, and NGOs."

Feature China/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Xu was arrested in Milan, Italy, on July 3 at the request of the U.S. government and now awaits extradition proceedings. He was charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to cause damage to and obtain information by unauthorized access to protected computers to commit wire fraud and to commit identity theft, obtaining information by unauthorized access to protected computers, intentional damage to a protected computer, and aggravated identity theft.

Ganjei stated, "The Southern District of Texas has been waiting years to bring Xu to justice and that day is nearly at hand. As this case shows, even if it takes years, we will track hackers down and make them answer for their crimes. The United States does not forget."

The DOJ reported that Zhang remains at large.

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