Former Marco Rubio Adviser Slams Republicans For Letting Kash Patel Pick MAGA Podcaster as FBI Deputy Director: 'Should Have Been a Red Line'

A lawyer who worked for different Republican senators slammed the appointment of conservative commentator Dan Bongino as deputy FBI director, a position that does not need Senate confirmation, saying the decision was made after GOP lawmakers failed to put previous limits on the Trump administration.

Gregg Nunziata, who worked for now Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, said Bongino's confirmation "is what you get when R Senators fail to do their jobs and say no to (Kash) Patel," already confirmed to be the next FBI director.

"The Trump Admin is turning federal law enforcement over to unqualified, unprincipled, partisan henchmen. It's unacceptable and conservatives need to say so," Nunziata concluded on X.

"Working with our great new United States Attorney General, Pam Bondi, and Director Patel, Fairness, Justice, Law and Order will be brought back to America, and quickly," said President Donald Trump when announcing the appointment. Bongino, like Patel, has called for mass firings at the FBI. A former Fox News host, he launched several ultimately unsuccessful bids for Congress before moving on to set up his own website in 2019, focused on radio and podcast.

Like Patel, Bongino has been a fierce critic of the FBI, including claiming that the 2022 search of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago property for classified documents was an attempt by the Joe Biden administration to assassinate him.

"EVERYONE involved in this DOJ/FBI abomination, from the management down to the agents, must be immediately terminated when the tyrants are thrown out of office," he said back then. His post will entail running the bureau's operations and oversee special agents leading field offices across the country.

He will also work closely with Patel, who said prior to taking the job that should Trump return to office, he would "come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections."

"We're going to come after you, whether it's criminally or civilly. We'll figure that out. But yeah, we're putting you all on notice... We're actually going to use the Constitution to prosecute them for crimes they said we have always been guilty of but never have," he told Steve Bannon on the War Room podcast.

Trump said during the campaign that Patel's book, Government Gangsters, is a "blueprint" for his administration. The book calls for "comprehensive housecleaning" of the FBI, which includes firing "the top ranks."