In this episode of Bongino Report: Early Edition, Evita is joined by her friend, Dan Bongino, soon to be the Deputy Director of the FBI. In this powerful conversation, they dive into the strength that arises from overcoming suffering, share insights on their faith, and discuss the latest news. Don't miss Dan’s last interview ever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: Who is Dan Bongino and what is his new role?
Good morning and welcome to Bongino Report Early Edition. And you guys know that when I have guests, I always say, I have a special guest today. This time, it is actually the most special guest that we could possibly have on this show because it is Dan Bongino himself joining the Early Edition.
Wow. This better be a really good interview. The audience is going to be really good. You know what? That was quite an intro.
Anytime you come on, Dan, and it's like you show up on the side of the screen at the they flip out.
Well, it was weird, right? Because we were in this small studio. There's nowhere to go. So you have to like genuflect and you got to move over and I got to steal the mic from you. It just didn't work. Now we're in this big studio. So look at this. I'm just learning this now. So that's my camera. We got the two shot. Evita's got her camera over here.
We only had two cameras in the other studio and one of them was at this awkward angle. So this has worked out perfect. I'm glad we're still working on your set. Evita's set's right over there. We're tinkering with the lighting over there. But you like it so far, getting out of the... My favorite part is this side shot.
Can you guys see the flag here? Yeah, yeah, you can kind of see it. It is so cool, and especially in my shot, it's amazing. And this is what's so amazing about this stand, is we started this out, and we were... literally in a closet in your house. And now we're in this incredible studio. The team is growing. The company is growing. We now have Haley's show. And by the way, Haley's show is amazing.
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Chapter 2: How did the Bongino podcast evolve over the years?
It's at 6 p.m. Same as my show. It's on Bongina Report. You guys can get it. 6 p.m. Eastern time. It is so cool to be growing like this. Did you envision this when you started the podcast five, six years ago?
You know, I guess the stock company, you know, iPhoto answer you can buy offline is, you know, no, I didn't see it. But, I mean, I did. If I didn't have a vision, I wouldn't have done it. Now, did I know it was going to turn into, you know, what I hope to be an alternative to linear cable, like all-day programming, which is eventually my goal? No. But, you know, I felt like... I had a calling.
Obviously, I've failed at a lot in life. I didn't ran for office. It didn't work out. But that's where the podcast came from. I think, as I wrote in that last book, You know, your failures shouldn't define you. And there were things I just, I didn't get into medical school, so I went to business school.
So after I lost this run for office, I was reading this article about podcasting, how kids weren't, this is in 2014 I'm reading this article, how young people, I shouldn't say kids, who were driving weren't listening to car radio anymore, that they were listening to Bluetooth. And they said podcasting will be the future. And, of course, it was named after the iPod. That's where podcast comes from.
And I thought I should start one of those. And I kind of knew within the first couple weeks, I said, this is really, this is interesting. Like you can talk and you can talk about whatever you want. And we didn't have a sponsor for about three, four years, but I knew the show was going to be good.
I knew it because I knew God had called me for something different despite falling down a couple of times. But did I expect it was going to turn into this and your show blowing up? I mean, you were, I sent you that thing at show prep this morning. Did you see that? You were a top 50 live stream yesterday on Bongino Report. Did I expect this to happen? No. So it's kind of a yes or no answer.
Yeah, I mean, it's incredible what's happened. And you're having a major transition right now. You built this whole studio. We're starting something, and yet you're taking a step back. You're going to go and serve, which you've done before. But it's pretty hard to serve when you have all of this that you've built now suddenly coming to fruition in front of you.
And you're like, I'm going to make that sacrifice. And something that you said to me that's really always had an impact. Well, you didn't say it to me. You said it to the world. but it still had an impact on me. You were being interviewed by Tucker Carlson, and you were talking about suffering, and you said, you know, your job in life isn't to be happy all the time.
Like, you shouldn't always be pursuing just happiness, that we have a reward system that's different than that. Can you expand on that? Like, how does that, you know, apply to what you're doing right now?
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Chapter 3: Why does Dan Bongino emphasize the importance of suffering?
and I'm sorry, but I'll wrap it up here, is if you seek suffering, you'll be the happiest. If you seek happiness, you're gonna suffer. That is the greatest irony of life. Jesus taught us the lesson in the Bible, and even if you're not a Christian, Even if you're not, I like, I love Jesus and that's my religion, may not be yours.
But you look at the world's great religions, which millions of people follow, every single one of them has the same lesson. You have got to suffer to reach salvation. It's not, you're never gonna reach salvation seeking happiness all the time. It's embarrassingly, it's an embarrassingly bad approach to life.
And that's why when that call came in for this, just like when it came in for your dad, who had a great job up at Fox. I know, I talk to your dad all the time, we're good friends. The answer was yes. There's not even a second thought. Do it. That's the answer, even if it involves some temporary sacrifice.
Yeah. And I think even if you're always pursuing happiness and you might think it'll make you happy, ultimately what makes you happy is when you take the hard route and you pursue suffering. That's where the fulfillment comes from. That's what the reward system that you were talking about comes from.
But haven't you seen in your life? I mean, you were in University of Chicago, right? With the vaccine thing. Yeah. You could have just taken it, right?
I definitely would have taken it.
I mean, you would have caused yourself probably some issues, but you could have saved yourself a lot of headaches, correct?
I almost got expelled. I had to sue the university. I mean, people were calling me a grandma killer. I had to go in every single week and inconveniently take a vaccine test because I was unclean. Other people I knew were expelled. A friend of mine, she got vaccine injured. And this is verified by Pfizer. It's not a conspiracy. You can look her up. And her doctor said, do not take the booster.
And the school had a booster mandate. And they said, you have to take it. And she said, I won't. And they expelled her. And she was like, OK. And there are a lot of people who are brave like that. And if you aren't willing to stand up for what is right or what is true or what is good, then there are a lot of other people that are going to suffer, too.
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Chapter 4: What challenges did Evita face regarding vaccine mandates?
No.
And this, for everybody listening, it's so unnatural. I mean, everywhere you go, if there's any kind of overhead, they are moderating content. And you're a mentor, and you tell me, hey, I think here's a way to think about this. But it's very balanced, and it's very respectful. And I never have felt like I am told what to say or what to think by you. And I think the viewers can tell that
So I really appreciate that. And on being authentic and true, Dan, I have to tell you that when I cold plunge, it's 33 degrees, and it's in the middle of the lake, and I chop up the ice in Wisconsin.
You win. I'm not doing no 33. I keep it at, what is it, 46, 47? I keep it at 45, but it usually goes up to 47 because it's going to cool it down.
Have you tried to get it to 33?
No, no, 33, I'm suffering. I'm not suffering. Here, let me show some authentic side. I ain't suffering that much. I forget what I said about suffering. I'm just kidding. I ain't going down to no 33. No, not a chance in Hades.
We'll have to show the video of it at the show next time, you guys, because I'm out there with Michael in the middle of the lake.
Bring Michael in with you.
Chop the ice, jump in there, and we have the thermometer. It's 33 degrees.
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Chapter 5: How does Dan Bongino maintain authenticity in his content?
The amount of suffering my wife and I have taken on defending people who say things I don't like, there are people on a platform I've invested in who go on the platform and insult me all the time. One guy threatened me on the platform. We have never, ever, ever, ever considered like, oh, well, he needs to go. It's not about me.
It's about his ability to speak out, even when it hurts, actually, or could hurt. I said, leave it. Leave it. We're not touching anything. And, you know, we're not doing anything with it. So the free speech bona fides are there. But it's not a simple free speech question because it's not. It's not black or white. There's a lot of on the margin here. Does this involve conduct and actions as well?
Because that's different. I can say all I want. I support, I don't like Israel. I don't like Benjamin. I'm going to say that's obviously not my opinion, but I don't like the Netanyahu. I hate the Israeli government. Israel has no right to exist in that territory. They haven't been there. That's historical Palestine. You can have all the opinions you want. From the river to the sea.
From the river to the sea. I mean, if you don't say the magic words and threaten someone's life, which would apply to a US citizen too, that is protected speech, period. And it should be defended, even if you don't agree with it.
The question is, the fact that it involves some degree of conduct on the university, private property, and elsewhere, and that some of the conduct may, there's not necessarily a direct link, but may involve the support of terrorism, Is it a conduct issue or a speech issue?
This is one of those talk topics where, Evita, I don't have an easy answer yet, and I've applied, I hate to throw it out there, but the Bongino Rule, where, I want to see what comes out in this due process hearing. But second, this is where it gets complicated. If this is a U.S. citizen, it's a little bit more of a black and white case. It isn't. It is someone who is not a United States citizen.
They have rights on U.S. soil as a legal permanent resident, okay, here on a green card. There's no question. But then you say, well, okay, well, he needs to go. Maybe. but maybe not, we haven't had the due process yet either.
He's getting it, which is good, but this is one of those things, I encourage everyone, regardless of where you stand on the Israel, Palestine, Israel, Arab world issue, and the entire issue of the Middle East, I just encourage everyone to be deliberate, Wait for the facts. Don't get emotional. I know it's hard because this involves terrorism, life or death, believe me.
There's no more serious topic. But I encourage everyone to just think like an investigator and a spreadsheet. Let the facts develop. And in this due process hearing, if the government can show that there was some material support for terrorism, I don't care if you're a citizen or not, you've committed a crime. And I don't care if that's a white supremacist, a Nazi, an Islamic radical.
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Chapter 6: What are Dan Bongino's thoughts on the Mahmoud Khalil case?
She has rights. And you can't just say, like, no, she doesn't because we don't like what she's saying. That's not the way... The constitution's not a suggestion is what I'm getting at. It's a hard stop sign, not a four-way stop sign no one pays attention to. You have got to follow the rules or else you have nothing. You have chaos and anarchy. However...
The rules also say you don't have those rights if you are not an American citizen. American citizen in Paris still has rights of an American citizen. A resident of Accra, Ghana, who comes over here, until they land on US soil, has no such rights. Matter of fact, even one of the exceptions to the search exception in the Constitution is at the border. You do not have those rights at the border.
Even you, when you come into the border, it is, we can search your vehicle. Wait, Fourth Amendment, not at the border. You don't even have American citizen rights. And we're letting people in, not obviously, not anywhere close to all, but a subset of people coming into the country who just hate the place. They hate everything about us.
They love the first world living standards, but they hate the place. And that's the suicide pact that we've been warned against. The Constitution was never meant to be a suicide pact. Everything has four corners around it. Even our wonderful, amazing First Amendment. You can't threaten people's lives. You can't libel people.
I can't come out tomorrow and say, I have evidence Evita was born on Saturn. I can't do that. It's not true. I made it up. But I have the first amendment. Everything has restrictions on it because the Constitution was not meant to be a suicide pact. And this is what bothers me. And like with the protesters on campus, hey, listen, your viewpoint is protected. You hate Israel. You hate Netanyahu.
You hate the IDF. the Shin Bet, the Mossad, you hate them. You are allowed to do that. But the question is, are you allowed to do it on a private college campus? If they say you are, it's their property, it's not mine, that's fine. But then, there's other questions. This is what I said, everything's nuanced. Are you allowed to stop Evita Duffy from walking in a classroom?
Because Evita has rights too. And the answer is, no, you're not. You are not allowed to physically contact Evita Duffy and say, you can't go in the classroom. You can't. So, you know, these are really nuanced questions that I think our audience, which you've seen, who's very deep, the Bongino Army are super smart, just read the chat.
They understand that none of this stuff lends to easy answers, but when you talk it through like me and you were doing now, you're like, you know what? I think they're right. I do love the First Amendment, but the First Amendment, like any other right, doesn't allow you to impact on the civil big R rights of others either.
Yeah. Well, there's an interesting conversation to be had about the Catholic church, Dan, because you were just talking about identity and who has a, do you just have a right to come in here? And is that the Christian answer, right? Cause you'll see the Catholic bishops will slam JD Vance.
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