Deputy Director of the FBI Dan Bongino has said that the New York Times is preparing a hit piece on him over what the outlet plans on reporting as a "shoulder injury" that occurred while he was grappling with other personnel. Bongino has said the planned report is wrong and that he got some swelling in his elbow because of the intensive exercise.
Bongino posted to X, "Adam Goldman of the NY Times is getting ready to run another one of their 'journalism' exposé pieces about me spending time in our FBI training facility ground fighting with our dedicated and skilled defensive tactics instructors. Their big news 'hook' is that after a solid few rounds of grappling, I injured my shoulder. Because it’s Adam Goldman, you can generally assume he’s wrong, and he is, again. The instructor I was grappling with got the best of me, because he’s incredibly talented. That’s why he’s there."
"And it was my not an 'injury' but a bit of swelling in my right elbow, not shoulder, because I’m 50 years old and I can’t recover like I used to. But I felt it was important to get on the mats any way, because that’s what men do. But Adam doesn’t know much about that. And he never will. Because he’s Adam, from the NY Times," Bongino added.
Bongino was appointed by President Donald Trump to be the Deputy Director for the FBI as he took office earlier this year. Bongino has been a police officer for the NYPD and then served as a Secret Service agent from 1999 to 2011.
Goldman has been a long-time reporter at the New York Times and writes about national security matters, according to his bio. "I cover the F.B.I. and contribute to reporting on the Justice Department as well as other intelligence agencies," his page states, and then goes onto list his career experience at the AP and other items.
Under his "journalism ethics" statement, Goldman states, "I cover people and government agencies fairly and honestly."