FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino announced on Thursday that the bureau has dismantled a major Chinese espionage operation inside the United States, including agents who were actively working to recruit American service members into betraying their country.
In a statement posted to X, Bongino said the FBI executed eight search warrants and made two arrests in San Francisco, Houston, Portland, and San Diego as part of the operation. He described the spy ring as “sophisticated” and directly tied to the Chinese government.
“This is your FBI, and you deserve to know about the work we’re doing every day to keep our country and citizens safe,” Bongino said.
The takedown follows a series of cases earlier this year in which U.S. Army soldiers were caught passing sensitive information to the People’s Republic of China in what Bongino called “treason-adjacent espionage.”
According to the FBI, the foreign agents were attempting to steal U.S. defense secrets and advanced technologies, including missile and drone capabilities, while also conducting surveillance and intimidation campaigns on U.S. soil.
Since January 2025, the FBI has arrested 51 foreign intelligence agents from nations including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. Charges range from economic espionage and sanctions evasion to stealing classified information and smuggling biological materials.
Bongino said the bureau has nearly 5,000 active counterintelligence cases, with more than 800 new cases opened this year alone.
“We typically work behind the scenes in this space,” he said, “but we understand we need to rebuild your trust in the FBI and learn from past mistakes.”
He added that the agency has declassified thousands of pages of counterintelligence documents and shared them with Congress to promote transparency and regain public trust.
“God bless America, and all those who defend Her,” Bongino said.
The FBI deputy director has recently been the subject of much speculation regarding his status with the FBI, as he was said to be annoyed with how the Jeffrey Epstein saga was handled.
Bongino returned to work on Monday after a disagreement with Attorney General Pam Bondi over the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation prompted him to consider resigning last week, according to The Post.
Multiple sources told CNN that Bongino, 50, returned to work after taking a personal day on Friday, but his future with the agency remains unknown following the heated discussion with President Trump’s Justice Department chief.
The FBI and DOJ delivered a document this week summarizing a review of the case against Epstein, who died in his Manhattan prison cell on August 10, 2019.
The handling of the Epstein files has sparked a schism within Trump’s MAGA supporters, with some supporting Bongino if he had quit in protest of the case’s alleged lack of openness.
Before entering the Trump administration, Bongino had long suspected there was more to the Epstein case than authorities were revealing.
The former attorney for deceased human trafficker Epstein “unequivocally” said that Trump is nowhere to be seen on the infamous list of clients that his former client had.
David Schoen, who represented Epstein in the final weeks before he died in 2019, revealed in June that he had questioned his imprisoned client about any potential dirt on Trump.
“I was hired to lead Jeffrey Epstein’s defense as his criminal lawyer 9 days before he died. He sought my advice for months before that. I can say authoritatively, unequivocally, and definitively that he had no information to hurt President Trump. I specifically asked him!” Schoen said in a post on X.