President Donald Trump’s former top Border Patrol officer, Gregory Bovino, chose to quit rather than be pushed out as he faces multiple investigations into his conduct, according to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) insider.
Bovino, 55, broke the news of his departure via Breitbart on Monday, saying he planned to leave by the end of March after nearly three decades with the agency, and calling the role “the greatest honor of my entire life.”
A senior DHS insider offered an insight into why he had chosen to go now. “He sees where the wind is blowing,” the source told the Daily Beast.
“He’s got an internal investigation looming, and he’s already been sent back to El Centro. Now with Noem out, it’s a sign of things to come. Chosen to jump before he’s pushed.”
That investigation—first reported by The New York Times—centers on a phone call Bovino made to federal prosecutors in Minnesota in January. According to multiple people familiar with the exchange, Bovino complained that U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen, an Orthodox Jew, was hard to reach at weekends because he observes Shabbat, used the term “chosen people” in voicing his frustration, and asked sarcastically whether Orthodox Jewish criminals also took the weekend off.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) investigator John Breckenridge subsequently opened a formal inquiry into the allegation that Bovino had made “unprofessional comments.”
A DHS spokesperson dismissed the original reporting as gossip, saying the probe was triggered by a congressional letter about “anonymous allegations” and did not confirm wrongdoing.
Separately, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced a criminal investigation that could result in charges, with prosecutors already examining 17 cases—among them a January 21 incident in which Bovino was filmed warning “I’m going to gas—get back!—gas is coming” before lobbing a smoke canister at protesters in Minneapolis.
As the Beast has chronicled, Bovino’s rise was almost as speedy as his fall. His authority rested on a direct back-channel to then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, 54, and her chief aide and rumored lover Corey Lewandowski, 52, bypassing CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott entirely.
In an email obtained by NBC News, he spelled out the arrangement to acting ICE Director Todd Lyons: “Mr. Lyons said he was in charge, and I corrected him saying I report to Corey Lewandowski.”
Everything unraveled in Minneapolis. ICE agent Jonathan Ross fatally shot unarmed mother Renee Nicole Good, 37, in early January. On January 24, a mob of Bovino’s Border Patrol “Green Machine” agents flung VA intensive-care nurse Alex Pretti, also 37, to the pavement while he shielded a female protester, then shot him.
Bovino went on television to back Noem’s branding of Pretti as a would-be “terrorist”—a performance that, as the Beast reported, sealed his fate at the White House. Border czar Tom Homan was dispatched to take over, with Bovino sent back to El Centro in California, and stripped of his government social media access.
Trump fired Noem on March 5 following two days of bruising Senate hearings. Lewandowski is set to leave with her. Bovino is the third casualty of the power struggle that consumed them all.
DHS is now run on an acting basis by Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar while the Senate considers the nomination of Sen. Markwayne Mullin, 48, of Oklahoma, as permanent secretary.
The Daily Beast contacted the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection for comment. A DHS spokesperson said Bovino had not submitted any retirement paperwork.
