Rumors of a serious rift between the heads of the FBI and Justice Department erupted on Friday, largely centered on deep disagreements over how the Trump administration has handled public disclosures involving the case of deceased convicted pedophile and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

That includes anonymously sourced reports that FBI Director Kash Patel may consider resigning from his position if Attorney General Pam Bondi retains her powerful slot in Trump's Cabinet, according to Mediaite.

The reports of a potential Patel resignation follow rumors that FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino posed a similar ultimatum concerning Bondi, and may have even already quit his role as a top federal law enforcement official.

Bongino vs. Bondi

Axios was among the first of many media outlets to report on Friday that, citing several unnamed sources, Bongino did not show up to work that day and may have already resigned after getting into a loud argument with AG Bondi at the White House on Wednesday.

Allegedly at issue here is Bongino's anger over how Bondi previously "overpromised and underdelivered" on public disclosures about Epstein, particularly his supposed "client list," which Bondi previously claimed was sitting on her desk but now says never existed in the first place, as well as controversy over an hours-long surveillance camera video of Epstein's jail cell that prompted renewed conspiracy theories about his death with a key "missing minute."

"Pam said her piece. Dan said his piece. It didn't end on friendly terms," one source said of Wednesday's argument, while another source claimed, "The fact is, Dan was for releasing the information with the video and had no problem until he got heat online."

A third source asserted that Bongino "lost his mind and ran out of D.C." amid the public fallout over the video, but that was countered by still another source who said, "Dan is not the bad guy here. He shouldn't take the fall."

In the end, the general consensus of the D.C. rumor mill is that Bongino issued a "her or me" ultimatum versus Bondi that coincided with his not appearing at work on Friday, and while some sources say that he hasn't quit and remains employed by the administration, at least one source told Axios of the deputy director, "He ain't coming back."

Patel could follow Bongino out the door

Mary Margaret Olohan, the White House correspondent for the Daily Wire, shared the initial early reports about Deputy Director Bongino's alleged resignation ultimatum and added on Friday that Director Patel was also considering doing the same thing.

In an X post, Olohan reported, "Source close to DOJ says Kash Patel also wants Pam Bondi gone, and that he’d consider leaving if Bongino leaves. Also that there are more frustrations with other documents Bondi hasn’t released."

The reporter followed that up with an anonymous source quote obtained by her White House correspondent colleague, Shelby Talcott of Semafor, that seemed to further confirm and clarify the rumors of Bongino's frustrations with Bondi.

"Bongino in particular, one source said, is frustrated that the DOJ, at the start of this week, declared the Epstein case effectively closed and determined that the accused sex trafficker died by suicide while awaiting trial, with few further details shared. He wants more documents unsealed, the source added," Olohan shared.

What will Trump do?

It is noteworthy that both Bongino and Patel are highly loyal to President Trump, and by all accounts have been working hard to reform the FBI and restore it as a nonpartisan and unbiased enforcer of the rule of law.

That said, per the Axios report, Trump "loves Pam and thinks she's great," as does White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, who developed a friendship with Bondi in Florida, so it remains to be seen next week if the president picks a side in the dispute, accepts or demands resignations from any of the involved parties, or forces them all to sit down together and work out their issues.