Before Ascending to Top Tier of F.B.I., Bongino Fueled Right-Wing Disbelief

On a recent episode of his wildly popular podcast, the right-wing provocateur Dan Bongino asserted that he would soon be able to show that pipe bombs found near the Capitol the day of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack were “an inside job” and that “the F.B.I. knows who this person is.”

It is a baseless theory that has spread among the right; the F.B.I. has, in fact, been unable to identify a suspect, despite four years of effort and a $500,000 reward. Nevertheless, Mr. Bongino suggested with furious certainty that the incoming F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, would soon reveal the answer.

“We’re in charge now,” he whispered excitedly.

His conspiratorial-minded views, characteristic of his show, offer a remarkably vivid illustration of his likely approach when he takes over the No. 2 job at the F.B.I. As deputy director, he will effectively serve as the chief operating officer of the premier U.S. law enforcement agency, overseeing the most sensitive cases in the nation. The role will give him access to vast amounts of highly sensitive intelligence, as well as the daily flotsam of rumor, speculation and false accusations that F.B.I. agents receive from informants and the public.

Still, as he talked about his new post on Monday, Mr. Bongino, a failed political candidate who struck gold as a combative, perpetually online Trump supporter, was emotional as he acknowledged that joining the highest echelons of the bureau would require shifting tack.

“We play different roles in our life and each one requires a different skill set,” he said, insisting that he was “cleareyed” about the vision that Mr. Trump, Mr. Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi have for the F.B.I. “I am going to do my best to implement that vision.”

Days earlier, Mr. Bongino offered a glimpse of that vision, playing a clip of the senior White House adviser Stephen Miller declaring, “The existential threat to democracy is the unelected bureaucracy.”