Dan Bongino Makes Comeback on Fox News to Discuss Nancy Guthrie Case Following FBI Exit

Dan Bongino, the former deputy director of the FBI, rejoined Fox News this week, marking his return after a brief tenure at the bureau that ended in December. His time there lasted less than a year, but it was enough to shift his focus back to media.

At 51, Bongino has transitioned from a Secret Service agent to a prominent conservative voice, previously hosting Unfiltered with Dan Bongino from 2021 to 2023. His first appearance since leaving the FBI occurred on Sean Hannity’s show, where he addressed the troubling case of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of NBC anchor Savannah Guthrie, who vanished from her Tucson home on January 31.

The situation escalated as a ransom deadline for the 84-year-old Guthrie passed without any updates regarding her condition or location. Savannah Guthrie took to Instagram, pleading for assistance: “We believe our mom is still out there. We need your help.”

In a statement, the FBI confirmed they have not established contact with the alleged kidnappers. “The FBI is not aware of any continued communication between the Guthrie family and suspected kidnappers, nor have we identified a suspect or person of interest in this case at this time,” the agency reported, adding that personnel from various field offices are actively involved in the Tucson investigation.

During his discussion with Hannity, Bongino outlined three potential scenarios regarding Guthrie's disappearance. “The first is that this was obviously a kidnapping – an intended kidnapping for a ransom payment,” he stated. “The second possibility is that this was just a crime that went awry. Someone was at the house, maybe it was a burglary, something went bad, and you have some bad actors committing another crime by requesting a ransom for something they didn’t do, just to take advantage of a situation like this.”

He continued, “The third possibility is that there may have been some kind of medical emergency or something, and maybe this was not a kidnapping. When you can’t find someone in a crime scene like this right away, within the first couple of days, you either have really good, surgical-type operators, or the story you’ve been told – or believed – might not be the story.”

Bongino's time at the FBI was not without its challenges. He expressed dissatisfaction with the job's demands during an appearance on Fox and Friends last May. “I gave up everything for this,” he lamented. “I stare at these four walls all day in D.C., by myself... it’s hard. I mean, we love each other, and it’s hard to be apart.”

His frustrations were compounded by a memo released by the Department of Justice and the FBI last July, which stated there was no evidence that Jeffrey Epstein had been murdered in prison in 2019. This memo did little to quell conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein’s death; instead, it ignited further speculation and led to legislative efforts like the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

As Bongino navigated these controversies, he found himself facing backlash from factions within the MAGA community that had once supported him. When news of his departure from the FBI broke, Fox anchor Laura Ingraham remarked that Bongino “loved his lucrative media life” and was eager to return to it.

Despite his exit from the bureau, former President Trump seems to harbor no ill will towards Bongino. Recently appearing on his revived Rumble podcast, Trump stirred conversation by suggesting Republicans should “nationalize” voting processes to prevent “crooked” blue states from allowing illegal immigrants to vote.