WASHINGTON —­ Startling photos purportedly related to a giant drug bust n Minnesota were posted online by FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino. Purportedly 900 pounds of meth were confiscated. There were unanswered questions about Bongino’s post, like where in the state the bust occurred and whether there any arrests? The FBI usually allows state-level U.S. attorneys and FBI field offices to handle news releases and claim the credit for important arrests. Also: Bongino has credibility issues going back to his career as a Fox News editorialist and being on the job at the FBI only since March as an appointee of President Donald Trump. Bongino’s announcement, on the non-curated online platform X, was short the detail traditionally associated with FBI news releases, like exact times and dates and specific sites and criminal charges.

Bongino. No prior experience at FBI. Earlier hosted a talk show on Rumble and “Unfiltered with Dan Bongino” on Fox News.  A New York City police officer 1995 to 1999, a U.S. Secret Service agent 1999 to 2011. Unsuccessfully ran for Congress three times as a Republican.

Verbatim

Bongino on X: “An update for you out of @FBIMinneapolis: 900 lbs. of meth seized during two traffic stops in Minnesota yesterday, in a hit targeting drug trafficking rings you’ll hear about soon. We’re finding them and crushing their operations. More to come. Thanks to our @DEAHQ partners for the coordination.”

Truckload. Bongino’s photos: Drugs in a criminal transport vehicle? Or in an FBI vehicle to haul to a secure evidence site for safekeeping? Bongino’s slap-dash and sloppy X announcement unclear.

Evidence room? Bongino’s fact-light post on the media platform X doesn’t say.

NOTE: Many newsrooms waited out reporting the Bongino report. His unorthodox platform for the announcement had editors wary about the veracity. There were doubts too about the amateurishness of the announcement, which was oddly uncharacteristic of usually careful and thorough news releases from the bureau. The Winona Journal has opted to report the Bongino announcement but with cautionary notes. If nothing else, the announcement is insightful to inner workings of the FBI under Trump –— newsworthy in and of itself even if overstated , untrue. or not quite true. /jv