On Tuesday morning, Dan Bongino — conservative commentator and former Deputy Director of the FBI — posted a lengthy thread on X calling Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) a "zero," a "grifter," and a "fraud" who "supports third-world tyranny." He attached call records to back it up.
Massie fired back with a thread of his own, alleging that during a 10-minute phone call in November 2025, Bongino had: threatened to finance a defamation lawsuit against reporters covering the Jan. 6 pipe bomb investigation; threatened to criminally investigate Massie's staff; and implied that FBI agents had been called in to identify an internal whistleblower who had given Massie information.
"My staff also had the unfortunate pleasure of receiving numerous late night calls on Signal from FBI staff telling them there was absolutely nothing in the Epstein case and that I should back off," Massie wrote.
The public brawl — watched by hundreds of thousands on X by midday — is the latest eruption in a conflict that has been building for over a year: a single libertarian congressman from a rural Kentucky district who has decided to be a thorn in the side of everyone in power, no matter the cost.
Who Is Thomas Massie?
Thomas Massie, 54, represents Kentucky's 4th Congressional District — a sprawling, overwhelmingly Republican swath of northeastern Kentucky and outer Cincinnati suburbs. He's served since 2012. He has an engineering degree from MIT. He lives off the grid on a farm, generates his own solar power, and raises cattle. He plays banjo.
He has also voted against more legislation than virtually any other House member in modern history. He was against COVID-19 relief bills. Against Ukraine aid. Against raising the debt ceiling. He voted against Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" over debt concerns. He routinely positions himself as the most principled fiscal conservative in Congress — and routinely gets pilloried for it by both parties.
Trump, who endorsed against him during COVID, called him "disloyal," "a complete and total disaster," and recently flew to Massie's district to spend eight minutes attacking him at a rally before endorsing his Republican primary challenger, Ed Gallrein — a Navy SEAL turned farmer from Shelbyville.
The Epstein Files: Massie's Riskiest Move
In late 2025, Massie led the most unexpected bipartisan effort of the year: forcing the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files through a discharge petition — a rare parliamentary maneuver that bypasses House leadership entirely.
Working with Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, Massie gathered 218 signatures — the exact threshold needed for a floor vote — forcing House Speaker Mike Johnson's hand. The Epstein Files Transparency Act eventually compelled the Justice Department to release its files, in waves, with a final release on January 30, 2026. The DOJ announced on February 2, 2026, that there would be no additional prosecutions.
The Republican Jewish Coalition Victory Fund — which has spent more than $2.8 million trying to unseat Massie — has run ads portraying the effort as a "distraction from the real threats America faces." Massie argues it was one of the most important transparency acts of the Trump era.
The Bongino brawl traces directly back to this. In his post Tuesday, Bongino alleged Massie "never reached out. Not once" about the Epstein files release. Massie's response: Bongino's second (attempted) call came "the evening I achieved 218 signatures" and Massie had been "busy thwarting Mike Johnson's last ditch effort to derail the Epstein Files Transparency Act."
Opposing the Iran War — While His Party Cheers
Massie has been equally blunt about Operation Epic Fury, the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran that began on February 28, 2026. While virtually every other Republican in Congress has either supported the war or stayed silent, Massie has argued publicly that Trump started the war as a distraction from the Epstein files, called it an unconstitutional war without congressional authorization, and opposed emergency defense funding requests.
This is the argument that enrages pro-Israel Republican donors most. The Republican Jewish Coalition Victory Fund released an ad in March 2026 featuring a photo of Gallrein in the Oval Office with Trump, telling Kentucky voters they have a choice: "Gallrein and Trump, or Massie, who stands with Iran." The ad placed images of Massie alongside late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Massie's response to the ad: "I stand with America."
He has also continued pushing for an Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) vote — arguing that the President has no constitutional authority to wage war without Congressional approval. On this point, he has a consistent ally in the Senate: Rand Paul (R-KY), who joined Massie at a fundraiser last week.
The Pipe Bomb Investigation — and Today's Fight
The most explosive element of today's Bongino-Massie confrontation involves the Jan. 6, 2021 pipe bomb case — one of the most politically sensitive unresolved criminal investigations in Washington.
Massie has claimed, citing FBI whistleblower information he says he received, that the FBI arrested the wrong person in the case. He has been publicly skeptical of the investigation's conclusions. Bongino — who served as FBI Deputy Director before returning to media — accused Massie of "litigating it on X for clicks" rather than accepting a briefing Bongino offered.
Massie's account of that call alleges something far more serious: that Bongino, while still serving as Deputy FBI Director, threatened to finance civil lawsuits against journalists covering cases the FBI was working on, and threatened to investigate Massie's staff. If accurate, the allegations raise significant questions about the conduct of a sitting senior law enforcement official. Bongino denied the characterization. The exchange continued publicly on X throughout Tuesday afternoon.
The Primary: May 19, 2026
The Massie-Gallrein Republican primary is scheduled for May 19, 2026. It is currently the most expensive congressional primary in the country.
Conservative groups — led by the Republican Jewish Coalition Victory Fund ($2.8 million) and MAGA KY ($2.7 million) — have spent more than $5 million trying to unseat Massie, according to FEC filings and CBS News reporting. The combined effort is backed by three GOP megadonors and organized by longtime Trump advisers Chris LaCivita and Tony Fabrizio.
Despite the money, Massie is not considered an underdog by prediction markets. Polymarket gives Massie a 63.5% implied probability of winning the primary as of March 29, 2026 — reflecting his track record of dominating previous primaries in the district, including a 62-point win in 2020 after Trump endorsed against him.
Massie is counterprogramming the big-money campaign with a "money bomb" fundraiser — explicitly reviving the Ron Paul internet fundraising model — with guest appearances from Rand Paul and Marjorie Taylor Greene.
What the Massie Fight Is Actually About
The Massie saga is, at its core, a stress test of the Republican Party's internal tolerance for dissent.
The three issues Massie has raised — unconstitutional war, Epstein file transparency, and pipe bomb investigation integrity — are issues with genuine factual substance. The war in Iran was launched without congressional authorization and has no AUMF. The Epstein files were required by law to be released and the DOJ violated that law by delaying. The Jan. 6 pipe bomb case remains unresolved five years later.
The Republican response to Massie raising these questions has been: spend $5 million to destroy him.
An AP-NORC poll released March 26 found 59% of Americans believe U.S. military action in Iran has been excessive. CPAC attendees this year expressed significant discontent about the war, the Epstein files, and the economy. Even within Trump's base, Massie's position is less politically toxic than the party establishment has bet.
Whether that translates to votes in a Kentucky Republican primary, against a Navy SEAL with $5 million in outside support and a presidential endorsement — that remains to be seen.
The Stakes
If Massie wins on May 19, he will have survived a presidential takedown attempt, a multi-million dollar outside campaign, and a coordinated media assault — and will arrive in Washington for the midterm season as the loudest Republican voice questioning the Iran war's legality and the Epstein investigation's integrity.
If he loses, it will signal that the Republican Party under Trump has zero functional tolerance for dissent on its two most sensitive issues — war authorization and the Epstein files — and that no amount of personal credibility or grassroots support can survive a direct presidential primary challenge.
Either outcome is a significant data point about what the Republican Party is in 2026.