Not long after, Bongino became Patel’s No. 2 at the F.B.I. By the end of the year, he was able to tout the arrest of a man in the case. According to reports, the man had no known connections to the inside of much of anything, and had travelled to D.C. to attend a pro-Trump protest, because he had doubts about the outcome of the 2020 election. (He has pleaded not guilty.) Later, Bongino went on Fox News, another of his former professional homes, where Sean Hannity brought up his previous assertion that it was an inside job. “I was paid in the past, Sean, for my opinions—that’s clear,” Bongino said. “And one day I’ll be back in that space. But that’s not what I’m paid for now. I’m paid to be your deputy director. And we base investigations on facts.”