FBI Director Christopher Wray has announced that he will resign from his post at the end of the current administration. He will leave the office before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration next month.
He made the announcement during a town hall meeting with FBI employees on Wednesday.
“After weeks of careful consideration, I have decided that the right thing for the office is for me to serve until the end of the current administration in January and then resign,” he said . “My goal is to stay focused on our mission, the essential work you do every day on behalf of the American people. In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the office deeper into the fray, all reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to the way we do our work.
“It should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: It’s not easy for me,” Wray continued. “I love this place, I love our mission and I love our people – but my focus is, and always has been, on us and what’s good for the FBI.”
Trump appointed Wray – a former federal prosecutor and counterterrorism official – as FBI director in 2017 for a 10-year term after firing James Comey, but Wray has since been criticized by Trump and his allies at Capitol Hill because of the FBI’s handling of investigations into the president-elect. He remained director under President Biden, but Trump previously said he intended to remove Wray and replace him with Kash Patel, a former Republican congressman who was hired by Trump during his first term for positions in the Department of Defense and the Director’s Office. of national intelligence.
FBI directors are appointed to 10-year terms, which historically aims to ensure that the position is insulated from any political considerations. But presidents have the power to fire and appoint directors as they please, and many FBI directors have not yet served their full terms. The Senate must also vote to confirm the president’s nominee for FBI director.
Wray’s announcement clears the way for Patel to lead the FBI in Trump’s second term. Patel met at the Capitol with senators who will vote on his confirmation.
Wray and FBI leaders became targets of Trump’s ire in 2022, when FBI agents executed a court-authorized search warrant at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. The research revealed what was an ongoing federal investigation into Trump’s handling of classified materials after he left office. The investigation resulted in criminal charges against Trump filed by special counsel Jack Smith, but they have since been dismissed by a federal judge. Trump has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing.
If confirmed, Patel would be the third FBI director to work under a Trump administration and take charge of the nation’s main federal law enforcement apparatus, amid years of intense criticism from Trump and his allies on Capitol Hill. While Wray’s departure was widely expected, Trump’s announcement that he intended to appoint Patel to the position sparked speculation among federal law enforcement about whether Wray would resign or remain in his position before the Trump’s inauguration.
Wray took over the job after Trump fired then-director James Comey in part over the FBI’s investigation into the 2016 election that resulted in the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel for the matter. Comey, who has since become a vocal critic of the president-elect, found himself at odds with both Democrats and Republicans after his departure from the FBI’s top job.
Since his confirmation in 2017, Wray has spent much of his tenure focusing on internal issues such as agent recruitment and national security issues, including combating China’s espionage campaigns. He sounded the alarm over foreign efforts to target U.S. infrastructure and warned of aggressive stances by Iran and Russia.
The FBI employs approximately 35,000 people, including thousands of field agents, responsible for enforcing federal law and investigating crimes across the country, including terrorism, espionage and child exploitation. .
Patel, who could soon replace Wray, has been an outspoken critic of the federal agency and said he would implement massive reforms and seek revenge on Trump, saying at one point: “We’re going to go after the people of the country. media that lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig the presidential election. »
Patel would report directly to the U.S. Attorney General — Trump’s current pick for the position is former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Trump’s announcement that he intended to nominate Patel, 44, as FBI director was criticized by Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill and some former officials from Trump’s first term.
John Bolton, who served as national security adviser in Trump’s first term and Patel’s boss, compared the appointment to that of Joseph Stalin’s secret police chief.
“Fortunately, the FBI is not” Stalin’s secret police, Bolton said. “The Senate should reject this nomination 100-0,” a response that drew backlash from Trump allies and Vice President-elect JD Vance.
But Republicans on Capitol Hill have been open to the choice and argued it could bring changes to the FBI.
