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Christopher Wray will step down as FBI director before Donald Trump is sworn in next month, bowing to the president-elect’s plan to change the leadership of America’s top law enforcement agency.
“After weeks of careful thought, 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,” said Wray, who was appointed by Trump in 2017 for a term that would have ended in 2027, FBI staff said Wednesday.
The announcement comes less than two weeks after Trump nominated Kash Patel to lead the FBI, a controversial pick who has pledged to root out the “deep state” from US law enforcement agencies and championed far-right conspiracy theories. from QAnon.
Wray’s move suggests that Patel, a fierce Trump loyalist who advised the defense secretary in the president-elect’s first administration, may face an easier path toward confirmation after a rocky initial reception.
In recent days, Patel has met with several Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill, including John Cornyn and Josh Hawley, the senators from Texas and Missouri, respectively, in an attempt to drum up support ahead of his confirmation hearings.
“FBI nominee @Kash_Patel will be an advocate for the America First movement. I will do everything I can to get his nomination over the finish line,” said Oklahoma Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin. wrote in X on Tuesday after their meeting.
Trump supporters were outraged at Wray after federal agents searched his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. That led to the first federal indictment against a former US president, in which Trump was accused of mishandling classified material. The case was eventually dismissed by a federal judge and the Justice Department later decided to abandon the prosecution after Trump’s election victory in November, citing an internal policy that prohibits the prosecution of a sitting president.
Trump called the raid and charges illegal in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday. He said Wray’s resignation was “a great day for the United States, as it will end the militarization of what is known as the United States Department of Justice.”
Under Wray, the FBI cracked down on illicit flows of fentanyl, which has overtaken legally prescribed painkillers as the leading cause of overdoses in the United States.
He also challenged foreign threats, with a strong focus on China, “an adversary that has been quite clear about its intentions to lie, cheat and steal its way to economic and geopolitical domination in the years ahead,” Wray told staff Wednesday. .
“My goal is to keep the focus on our mission: the indispensable work they are doing on behalf of the American people every day,” Wray added. “In my opinion, this is the best way to avoid dragging the office into a more contentious situation, while at the same time reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to the way we do our work.”
US Attorney General Merrick Garland praised Wray in a statement for his “integrity and skill.”
