‘You Better Back It the F*ck Up!’ Dan Bongino Produces Texts Blowing Up Wild Tucker Carlson Accusation

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Conservative commentator Dan Bongino produced texts debunking Tucker Carlson’s claim that a “terrified” and “hysterical Bongino” told him that President Donald Trump had personally shut down the investigation into the July 2024 attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania while Bongino was serving as his deputy FBI director.

“I know that Trump shut down the investigation into Butler. That is a fact. Dan Bongino told me that when he worked at the FBI. And Dan Bongino himself was terrified when I spoke to him in December. It’s such a long, boring story, but basically I came into possession, I beg your pardon, of, accidentally came into possession of a lot of the social media posts that we were told didn’t exist, that were posted by Thomas Crooks in the months and years before the shooting. And I was amazed that the FBI had lied about this,” Carlson told Mario Nawfal on Thursday.

“So I called [FBI Director] Kash Patel and I later called Dan Bongino and I say, you know, ‘What is this?’ I’m not attacking you, it was the previous FBI administration that did this. It was Chris Wray, but what is that? And Dan Bongino became hysterical with me on the phone. I’ve known Dan a long time for many years and always gotten along with him. You know, whatever his faults, nice guy. Certainly very nice to me. I never had a problem with Dan, ever. And that problem began when I brought this information to his attention and he became a different person. He was clearly terrified. I didn’t get it at first, but he was hysterical,” Carlson continued, adding:

And ultimately, after a long series of text exchanges, which I still have, and phone conversations, he said, look, take it up with Trump. He’s the one who shut down the investigation. And that was, I think, the first or second week of December. I think it was the beginning of the second week in December. I have it written down. But that was the moment and I realized, ‘Oh wow, there’s no good explanation for shutting down an investigation into your own attempted murder.’ This is not what we’ve been told it was.

On Friday’s edition of his show, Bongino unleashed on Carlson while producing text messages that appeared to blow up his narrative.

“He doesn’t realize, like, I have these texts, too. I never do this, but if you’re going to refer to texts alleging we committed a crime, I’m going to put it out there. But first, let’s address his two points. He says that the president shut down the Butler investigation. Totally, completely, 100% made up,” began Bongino, who cited a Fox News article from November 2025 about how authorities had concluded Crooks “acted alone” after “one of the largest mobilizations of FBI resources in history that, frankly, continued to this day,” according to one official quoted in the story.

“If we get a credible lead, we’ll continue to investigate,” added the official. “The director has been very clear about leaving no stone left unturned, and that is what we are committed to.”

“Let me read this to you in case you’re a Tucker fan who can’t read,” quipped Bongino about the article.

He went on to read aloud text messages between himself and Carlson in which Bongino said that he had briefed the president on the case and that Trump was “satisfied that his questions were answered.”

“Do you guys see — anyone — anything in this text, anything at all in the audience, Tucker fans or anyone else, do you see anything in the text he claims to have that says the president shut down the investigation? He’s just making this up!” mused Bongino, who noted that Trump had publicly expressed his satisfaction with the FBI’s handling of the case to The Daily Caller, a publication founded by Carlson.

Bongino went on to produce more texts — including one in which Carlson professed to be “sincerely” not “understand” why the FBI wasn’t doing more to “prove” Crooks acted alone, as well as to claim Trump told him he didn’t buy the official story.

“Here’s the secret information he claims to have. Again, never produces any shred of evidence. I just produced to you evidence of the exact opposite. He’s in his own outlet, but yet he’s got secret information. Sounds like he’s bullsh*tting you, doesn’t it?” asked Bongino rhetorically.

In other texts, Bongino upbraided Carlson for implying that he and Patel were “involved in some sinister cover-up,” urged him to take his concerns to Trump, and encouraged him to bring on contradictory information if he had any.

Bongino went on to compare Carlson to MS NOW’s Rachel Maddow and accuse him of making “the whole story up.”

“Tucker says the president is basically obstructing jus-, he’s accusing the president of a crime! I had a bunch of people like, ‘Oh, you should sue him.’ Folks, it doesn’t matter with this guy. He doesn’t care about the truth. It’s a shame that we were friends, and he took it and he sh*t it down a toilet bowl because he’s a person of a lie who has the impulse control of a child. I’m sure he’s going to cackle at all this with that stupid laugh,” he concluded. “If you’re gonna accuse me in a mass media outlet of a federal crime, and claim you have evidence and accuse the president, too? Then you better back it the f*ck up!”

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