By ELLIOT SPAGAT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Gregory Bovino’s distinguished Border Patrol career was in a downward spiral. In August 2023, he was relieved of command of the agency’s El Centro, California, sector, where he rose to be one of 20 regional chiefs across the country.

Bovino blamed a batch of perceived transgressions, details of which have not been previously reported : an online profile picture of him posing with an M4 assault rifle; social media posts that were considered inappropriate; and sworn congressional testimony that he and other sector chiefs gave on the state of the border during a record surge of migrants.

Thirty minutes after his second congressional hearing, Bovino said, he was removed from his position and asked, “Are you going to retire now?”

He did not retire, the

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