FBI Director Chris Wray will step down early next year, the bureau said Wednesday, after US President-elect Donald Trump signed his intention to fire veteran FBI agent Kash Patel.
Trump himself had appointed Wray, also a Republican, to his 10-year term in 2017, after firing his predecessor James Comey, who was the president at the time because of an FBI investigation into alleged contacts between his 2016 campaign and Russia.
“After many weeks of careful consideration, I have decided that the best thing for the bureau is to serve until the end of the current administration in January and then step down,” Wray told FBI staff today, the agency said in a statement.
In a statement to Reuters, Patel said he was looking forward to a “smooth transition.”
“I will be ready to serve the American people on Day 1.”
Trump and his staunch allies turned on Wray, and the FBI in general, after agents conducted a court-ordered search of Trump’s Florida compound in 2022 to find classified documents he had kept after leaving office.
That sparked two federal prosecutions that Trump has faced since leaving office, none of which have gone to trial. Trump has denied wrongdoing and described all the charges against him as politically motivated. Federal prosecutors ended their efforts after his election, citing the Justice Department’s longstanding policy of not prosecuting a sitting president.
Trump’s Republican supporters join him in the accusation that the FBI has become involved in politics, although there is no evidence that Democratic President Joe Biden has interfered in its investigative processes.
“There are serious problems at the FBI. The American public knows it. They expect to see serious changes,” Republican US Senator Bill Hagerty said in early December after Patel’s nomination to Trump.
Throughout his tenure, Wray said he followed the law and fought to carry out the FBI’s duties impartially. During a 2023 hearing before a House panel, he dismissed the idea that he was pursuing the Democratic Party’s agenda, noting that he had been a lifelong Republican.
“The idea of me siding with pro-lifers seems crazy to me, given my background,” Wray said.
Wray to end the term early
FBI directors are appointed to 10-year terms, a move intended to avoid the appearance of bias after the White House changes politics every four years.
Wray’s term was not due to expire until 2027.
As he has built his list of Cabinet officials over the past few weeks, Trump has assembled a team ready to do two things: retaliate against his political opponents and reshape the US government.
Patel, who would need to be confirmed by the US Senate, has never worked for the FBI and spent only three years at the Justice Department before working in the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. If confirmed, he has promised to close the FBI headquarters building in Washington and redefine the bureau’s role in intelligence gathering.
Throughout Trump’s first term, Trump kept mulling the idea of replacing Wray for not being strong enough to defend him in the 2016 investigation, but former Attorney General Bill Barr resisted such efforts, Barr recounts in his book. One Damn Thing After Another.
Wray, in a speech to employees on Wednesday, urged them to stay focused on their mission of keeping Americans safe.
“My goal is to stay focused on our work – the important work we do for the American people every day,” Wray said, according to quotes provided by the office.
“In my opinion, this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau into the depths of controversy, while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to the way we do our work.”
FISA warrants, Jan. 6 investigation
The FBI has faced increasing criticism from Trump supporters for its various roles in investigating Trump over the years.
Other concerns predate Wray’s tenure, including several critical reports by the Justice Department’s inspector general that accused the office of making numerous errors in filings with the Foreign Intelligence Service during its initial investigation into the 2016 Trump campaign, known as “Crossfire Hurricane.”
During his tenure, Wray oversaw changes to the FBI’s procedures for obtaining FISA warrants.
The FBI during Wray’s tenure also played a major role in helping to investigate and arrest several 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 have been charged with crimes in the attack.
Trump pledged clemency for some of the defendants on January 6, though he did not provide details.
Wray is known in his time for his hawkish views on China, and has often warned that China represents the biggest 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 Atlanta-based Northern District of Georgia.
He was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2003 to lead the Criminal Division, where he oversaw various investigations including the post-9/11 counterterrorism efforts and the Enron Task Force.
Wray also practiced law for about 17 years with the law firm King & Spalding, and clerked for former Judge J. Michael Luttig on the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit after receiving his law degree from Yale Law School.
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