Trump taps Missouri AG to help lead FBI

Neither Bailey nor Bongino have any experience at the bureau

(Image credit: Vanessa Abbitt / St. Louis Post-Dispatch / Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

What happened

The Justice Department said Monday that Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, an ardent backer of President Donald Trump, had been appointed FBI co-deputy director. Bailey said he would resign as Missouri's top prosecutor to join conservative podcaster Dan Bongino in the bureau's No. 2 spot.

Who said what

Bailey's appointment is the "latest unusual personnel move at the FBI as the Trump administration aims to dramatically reshape the bureau" under Director Kash Patel, The Washington Post said. The deputy director is usually a "respected veteran with deep experience at the FBI" who can run day-to-day operations. Neither Bailey nor Bongino had any experience at the bureau.

The decision "bewildered many current and former FBI agents, who said they had never heard of a co-deputy director," The New York Times said. But Bongino has "vocally complained about the toll the job has taken on him," and his "future has appeared tenuous after a furious fight" with Attorney General Pam Bondi over the Justice Department's decision not to release the Jeffrey Epstein files.

What next?

Bailey said he will resign as Missouri attorney general on Sept. 8. It was "unclear how Bongino and Bailey will split the responsibilities of the job," which doesn't require Senate confirmation, the Post said. It's also "unclear whether Bongino plans to remain at the FBI" once he has to share the No. 2 position with another person, Semafor said.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.