Former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino teased big announcements on Monday as he prepares to return to the airwaves following his short stint inside the Trump administration.

Bongino said he wants to push the conservative movement back to foundational principles and call out voices on the Right that he believes are threatening conservatism heading into the important 2026 midterm elections. Despite leaving the FBI last month, Bongino has remained a loyal supporter of President Donald Trump and his agenda.

“I started in this movement as a candidate during the Tea Party movement, and I began my political commentary career shortly thereafter. I helped build this movement and I sure as hell am not going to let it get hijacked by a group of black-pillers, life-losers, grifters and bums,” Bongino said.

“We are a movement guided by truth. The essence of conservative ideology is the preservation of eternal truths. We are not the ‘latest thing’ group. We are not political cannibals,” he added. “I’ve watched quietly from the inside while doing the job I was hired to do, but I’m back now, and it’s time to restore balance to the force.”

Bongino’s return to podcasting and his vow to take on “grifters and bums” comes at a defining moment for the conservative movement. Last month, during Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest, one of the largest events of the year for conservatives, Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro called out “grifters” on the Right — specifically, Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens — for spouting views that are antithetical to conservative ideals.

In an earlier post on Monday, Bongino promised to reveal the exact date he would return to his show “soon” after he spends some time with his family. Bongino announced on December 17 that he would be leaving the bureau and thanked President Trump, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Attorney General Pam Bondi for the opportunity to serve as deputy director. Bongino’s final day was on Saturday, and he appeared to leave on good terms with Trump and Patel.

“This FBI is saving lives, protecting innocent kids, and taking deadly drugs off our streets at levels not seen in decades. None of it would’ve been possible without Dan’s leadership and support. And he paved the way for even better things to come,” Patel said on Sunday.

Bongino addressed some of the “infighting” on the Right in his post on Monday. Some of the divisions in the conservative movement under the second Trump administration stemmed from the administration’s handling of the Epstein case, with the FBI playing a major role in the investigation. Bongino, along with Patel and Bondi, were criticized over their work investigating the Epstein files after they concluded that there was no Epstein client list.

Bongino did not mention the Epstein saga in his post on Monday, but said that conservatives need to focus on the upcoming midterm elections and blasted those on the Right who spend their time “b*tching and whining.”

“We’ve got midterms coming up, and there’s no time for bullsh*t. This administration is cooking and REAL change simmers. If you’re spending your entire day b*tching and whining with 3/4ths of the term still to go, then please find the exits,” he said. “There’s no time for it. It’s not ‘infighting’ when you excise a cancer killing the host. It’s ‘outfighting’ because you’re not part of any movement I’m familiar with.”

Two illegal immigrant truckers from India were arrested Saturday for allegedly hauling 309 pounds of cocaine inside a semi-truck they were driving through Putnam County, Indiana, The Daily Wire has learned.

Gurpreet Singh, 25, and Jasveer Singh, 30, were driving from Joplin, Missouri, when they were pulled over by Indiana State Troopers, who observed that their truck was drifting, according to FOX59. The troopers brought in a drug-sniffing K9, who helped them locate 140-kilogram packages containing approximately 309 pounds of cocaine that were concealed in the truck’s sleeper berth.

The cache of drugs is worth an estimated $7 million, according to reports.

During the traffic stop, the illegal immigrant pair presented the troopers with their California-issued commercial driver’s licenses.

In a statement shared with The Daily Wire, the Department of Homeland Security blamed Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom for the alleged drug smuggling attempt.

“Thanks to Gavin Newsom’s reckless policies, these two criminal illegal aliens were granted commercial licenses by the state of California and were arrested for trafficking a whopping 300 pounds of cocaine inside a semi-truck,” Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement shared with The Daily Wire.

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“Gavin Newsom and his fellow sanctuary politicians even refused to honor an arrest detainer on one of these criminal illegal aliens in December. Sanctuary policies put American lives at risk. ICE law enforcement lodged arrest detainers to ensure these drug traffickers are not allowed back into American communities,” she said.

Gurpreet Singh crossed the southern border illegally on March 11, 2023, near Lukeville, Arizona, and was released into the country under the Biden administration, DHS told The Daily Wire.

Jasveer Singh crossed the border illegally on March 21, 2017, near Otay Mesa, California. He was arrested in December 2025 in San Bernardino for allegedly receiving stolen property, but was released after sanctuary authorities in California refused to honor a federal immigration detainer.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has since filed detainers with local authorities to ensure that they’re handed over for deportation rather than eventually released onto the streets after their latest alleged crimes, according to DHS.

During his latest encounter with police, Jasveer said he was employed as a truck driver, but that he hitched a ride with a different carrier for the latest trip, according to FOX59. He said he was instructed to haul an empty tractor-trailer to an Indian restaurant near Richmond, Indiana, to eat food and wait for his cargo load to arrive.

Meanwhile, Gurpreet said he hitched a ride from California to Joplin in a different truck before he met up with Jasveer as they headed to the same Indian restaurant, the outlet reported.

Jasveer also said that the truck lacked the required Electronic Logging Device that ensures drivers aren’t on the roads for longer than what is considered safe, according to FOX59.

The Trump administration has heavily scrutinized Newsom as it investigates the issuance of commercial driver’s licenses across the country to illegal immigrants following a string of fatal collisions.

California recently announced that it would delay its effort to cancel thousands of commercial driver’s licenses issued to foreign drivers.

The Trump administration instructed California to get it done by Jan. 5, threatening to withhold $160 million in federal funding if the state failed to make the deadline.

Newsom responded, saying their delay was a result of “federal mismanagement.”

“YOUR staff told CA DMV they were open to an extension 8 days ago. In fact, FMCSA agreed an extension made logistical sense and was reasonable (in a meeting on Dec. 18)! DMV relied on that guidance and acted accordingly,” Newsom wrote in a Dec. 31 X post.

“Only after the plan became public did your agency suddenly object,” he wrote.