FBI Director Chris Wray will step down early next year, the bureau said Wednesday, after US president-elect Donald Trump announced his plans to fire the former officer and brand -FireKash Patel replaced.
Trump himself appointed Wray, a fellow Republican, to his 10-year term in 2017, after firing his predecessor James Comey, whom the president had time stealing over the FBI's investigations into alleged ties between his 2016 campaign and Russia.
“After weeks of careful thought, I have decided that the right thing for the bureau is to serve until the end of the current administration in January and then step down,” Wray told reporters. – the FBI's work today, the agency said in a statement.
In a statement to Reuters, Patel said he is looking forward to a “smooth transition.”
“I will be ready to serve the American people on Day 1.”
Trump and his allies turned hard on Wray, and the FBI in general, after agents conducted a court-approved search of Trump's Florida resort in 2022 to retrieve classified documents he kept after to leave the post.
That prompted one of two federal charges Trump faced while out of office, neither of which went to trial. Trump has denied wrongdoing and described all charges against him as politically motivated. Federal prosecutors ended their efforts after the election, citing the Justice Department's longstanding policy of not prosecuting a sitting president.
Trump's Republican allies joined him in claiming that the FBI had become politicized, although there is no evidence that Democratic President Joe Biden interfered with its investigative processes.
“The FBI has serious problems. The American public knows it. They expect to see a big change,” Republican US Senator Bill Hagerty said in early December after Trump nominated Patel.
Throughout his term, Wray said he followed the law and strove to carry out the FBI's duties impartially. At a 2023 hearing before a House of Representatives panel, he disputed the idea that he was following a partisan Democratic agenda, noting that he had been a lifelong Republican.
“The idea that I'm biased against conservatives seems a little crazy, given my own personal history,” Wray said.
Wray until the end of the early term
FBI directors are appointed to 10-year terms, a measure intended to avoid the appearance of partisanship after political turnover in the White House every four years.
Wray's term was not expected to end until 2027.
As he has built his roster of Cabinet officials over the past few weeks, Trump has assembled a team poised to carry out two of his biggest priorities: retaliation against his political enemies and a wholesale reshaping of the US government.
Patel, who would have to be confirmed by the US Senate, has never worked for the FBI and spent only three years at the Department of Justice earlier in his career in Dept. Counter Terrorism Department of National Security. If confirmed, he has pledged to close the FBI headquarters building in Washington and dramatically redefine the bureau's role in intelligence gathering.
During Trump's first term, Trump repeatedly entertained the idea of replacing Wray for not being strong enough in protecting him from the 2016 investigation, but the former Sgt. lawyer Bill Barr opposed such efforts, Barr said in his book, One damn thing after another.
Wray, in his speech to employees on Wednesday, urged them to continue to focus on their mission to keep Americans safe.
“My goal is to stay focused on our mission — the essential work you do on behalf of the American people every day,” Wray said, according to excerpts provided by the bureau.
“In my opinion, this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into violence, while at the same time affirming the values and principles that so important to how we do our work.”
FISA warrant, probes January 6
The FBI has faced growing criticism from Trump supporters for its various roles in investigating Trump over the years.
Some of the concerns predated Wray's tenure, including several damning reports from the Justice Department's Inspector General that blamed the bureau for making numerous errors in the applications. warrant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court during its early investigation into the Trump campaign in 2016, known as “Hurricane Crossfire.”
During his tenure, Wray has overseen reforms to the FBI's processes for obtaining FISA warrants.
The FBI during Wray's tenure has also played a major role in helping to investigate and arrest many of the Trump supporters who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in a failed attempt to prevent Congress from confirming Biden's election victory.
More than 1,500 people were criminally charged in the attack.
Trump has promised to grant clemency to some of the defendants on January 6, although he has not provided details.
Wray has been known during his term for his hawkish views on China, and has often warned that China represents the greatest national security and economic threat facing the United States.
Wray began his career at the Department of Justice in 1997 as a federal prosecutor in the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta.
He was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2003 to lead the department's Criminal Division, where he oversaw a number of investigations including post-9/11 efforts to combat terrorism and Enron Task Force.
Wray also practiced law for approximately 17 years with the law firm of King & Spalding, and clerked for former Judge J. Michael Luttig of the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit after received a law degree from Yale Law School.
