Additionally, Bongino ran three unsuccessful campaigns for the United States Congress.
Dan Bongino was born on December 4, 1974 in the Queens borough of New York City. He is of half Italian ancestry. As a teen, Bongino went to Archbishop Molloy High School. Subsequently, he attended Queens College, from which he obtained both his bachelor's and master's degrees in psychology. Bongino went on to enroll at Pennsylvania State University, where he earned his MBA.
Bongino began his career in 1995 working in the New York City Police Department; he remained there through 1999. Following this, he became a special agent for the United States Secret Service at the New York Field Office. Bongino left this post in 2002 to become an instructor at the Secret Service Training Academy in Beltsville, Maryland. Later, in 2006, he was appointed to the Presidential Protection Division, where he remained until May of 2011.
In the media, Bongino has become notorious as a far-right radio host and commentator on both local and national programs. He has served as a guest host on the radio shows of Mark Levin and Sean Hannity, and has filled in on both WMAL-FM talk radio in Washington, DC and WBAL in Baltimore. Until 2018, Bongino contributed to NRATV. Additionally, he has often appeared on Fox News and the far-right conspiracy theory platform InfoWars.
Bongino is a major propagator of the Spygate conspiracy, which falsely claims that Obama's administration illegally spied on the campaign of Donald Trump. The FBI investigated Spygate and found no evidence that Obama's administration was involved in spying on Trump or Trump's campaign. The FBI investigation was itself investigated and subsequently confirmed by the Justice Department and the Director of National Intelligence.
Bongino also spread the Big Lie that the 2020 presidential election was rigged, landing him on the New York Times' list of the top five "misinformation super spreaders." Following the attempted insurrection of the Capitol on January 6, Bongino's Twitter account was temporarily suspended for violating Twitter policies regarding civics and integrity.
In 2021, Bongino was signed by Cumulus Media to replace "The Rush Limbaugh Show" on the radio. He also signed with Fox News to host a new weekend program entitled "Unfiltered with Dan Bongino." However, he ran into trouble later in the year when he declared that he was opposed to corporate COVID vaccine mandates, despite the fact that he himself was vaccinated. Bongino went on to demand that his employer, Cumulus Media, end its mandate, and remained silent when other employees were being let go for not getting vaccinated.
Bongino ran for office for the first time in 2012. His campaign, for the United States Senate in Maryland, was ultimately unsuccessful, as he lost to incumbent Democrat Ben Cardin. Bongino's failure continued two years later, when he lost his campaign for the House of Representatives seat for Maryland's 6th Congressional District. The winner was once again an incumbent Democrat, this time John Delaney. After moving to the Sunshine State, Bongino sought the nomination for Florida's 19th congressional district in 2016. Failure continued to plague him, as did horrible behavior, as he was recorded going on an expletive-filled tirade against a reporter. Bongino ended up losing in the primary.
Like other far-right lunatics, Bongino's "entire life" is predicated upon, in his own words, "owning the libs." He is a proponent of numerous conspiracy theories, and has spread misinformation about everything from the 2020 presidential election to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bongino has authored a number of books further promoting his deranged views.
Bongino is married to Colombian native Paula Andrea, with whom he has two daughters. For a while, the couple operated three businesses from their home. They sold martial arts apparel, consulted on risk and security management, and designed websites.
In September of 2020, Bongino was diagnosed with throat cancer. After successfully undergoing surgery, he confirmed that he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. Bongino announced that he had beaten the disease in 2021.
