Overview
- Bailey will resign as Missouri attorney general effective September 8 to assume the FBI role.
- The deputy director position does not require Senate confirmation, and multiple outlets report this co-deputy setup is a first for the bureau.
- Officials have not explained how Bailey and Bongino will divide duties, and reporting describes Bongino’s future as uncertain after last month’s dispute.
- Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel announced the move, which continues the administration’s pattern of installing political loyalists lacking traditional FBI careers.
- The change follows a DOJ–FBI memo stating Epstein died by suicide and that no client list exists; Fox News Digital first reported Bailey’s appointment, and Bongino publicly posted “Welcome.”