Kash Patel Shocks Dan Bongino with ‘Big Nugget’ Reveal on Fox News Business [WATCH]

FBI Director Kash Patel announced Friday that the Bureau will vacate its longtime headquarters at the J. Edgar Hoover Building and begin redistributing personnel across the country.

The decision marks a major shift in federal law enforcement operations and follows through on a promise Patel made prior to assuming the role.

The announcement came during an appearance on Fox Business with anchor Maria Bartiromo.

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Patel stated that the current structure, which houses a significant portion of the FBI’s administrative personnel in downtown Washington, D.C., is inefficient and no longer suitable for the agency’s mission.

“We’re taking 1,500 of those folks and moving them out,” Patel said.

“I think when we do things like that, we inspire folks in America to become intel analysts and agents and say, ‘We want to go work at the FBI because we want to go fight violent crime, and we want to get sent out into the country to do it.’”

The move is intended to redistribute the FBI’s workforce more evenly across the nation.

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Patel said the transition will take place over the next six to nine months, with the goal of expanding the agency’s reach and improving collaboration with local law enforcement.

“And that’s what we’re doing. In the next six to nine months, we’re going to do that hard,” Patel told Bartiromo.

“I didn’t know that I was going to do this, but I’m going to announce it on your show anyway — This FBI is leaving the Hoover Building because this building is unsafe for our workforce.”

Deputy Director Dan Bongino, who was also present during the segment, reacted with surprise to the announcement.

“You just gave up a big nugget there,” Bongino said with a laugh.

Patel added, “We want the American men and women to know if you’re going to come work at the premier law enforcement agency in the world, we’re going to give you a building that’s commensurate with that, and that’s not this place.”

KASH PATEL: This FBI is LEAVING the J. Edgar Hoover building!

This is a HUGE change.

Even Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino is stunned that Patel dropped that one. pic.twitter.com/N0yaLzgmaz

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 16, 2025

Patel has previously criticized the centralized structure of the Bureau and argued that the agency’s leadership had become too focused on administrative functions rather than its core mission of law enforcement.

His comments have drawn scrutiny from opponents in Washington, particularly over his earlier statements about turning the Hoover Building into a museum.

“I’d shut down the FBI Hoover building on day one and reopen the next day as a museum of the deep state,” Patel said in a prior appearance on The Shaun Ryan Show.

“And I’d take the 7,000 employees that work in that building and send them across America to chase down criminals. Go be cops.”

Kash Patel: “I’d shut down the FBI Hoover Building on day one and reopen it the next day as a museum of the Deep State. Then, I’d take the 7,000 employees that work in that building and send them across America to chase down criminals. Go be cops. You’re cops—go be cops.”

“Every… pic.twitter.com/lBexXKSpBf

— Shawn Ryan (@ShawnRyan762) December 1, 2024

During his confirmation hearing, Patel reaffirmed his commitment to decentralizing the agency’s workforce.

“I am fully committed to having that workforce go out into the interior of the country, where I live west of the Mississippi, and work with sheriff’s departments and local officers,” he told lawmakers.

Patel’s critics, particularly among Democrats and within federal bureaucracy circles, have cited his past remarks as evidence of a radical approach.

The Senate Judiciary Committee previously described Patel as a “radical extremist” in a press release highlighting his comments about the FBI’s Washington headquarters.

Though Patel has not indicated whether he will follow through on his previous statement about converting the Hoover Building into a “museum of the deep state,” Friday’s announcement signals a sweeping reorganization of the Bureau’s operations.

As of Friday, no new location has been publicly announced as a permanent headquarters.

However, Patel’s comments make clear the FBI’s presence in Washington will be significantly reduced, and agents will soon be more widely distributed throughout the United States.

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