FBI Director Christopher Wray enters a secure intelligence area prior to a closed-door security meeting at the Washington State Capitol on September 25, 2024.
Tom Brenner Washington Post | Getty Images
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray announced Wednesday that he will resign by the end of the Biden administration next month.
Wray’s announcement at a town hall for agency employees paved the way for President-elect Donald Trump, who has criticized the director, to install a new director. F.B.I. There is no need to fire Ray or ask him to resign.
In November, President Trump announced his intention to nominate Kash Patel to head the FBI. Patel is a former federal prosecutor, Trump supporter and critic of the FBI.
Mr. Ray’s term of office is 10 years, and he has served as a director since August 2017. Trump, who was then president, nominated him to the post after firing James Comey from the company’s board.
Wray has since criticized Trump for his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and for the FBI’s role in Trump’s criminal investigation into his storage of classified government documents after leaving the White House. This has angered Mr.
Those investigations led to two federal criminal charges against Trump, both of which were dropped by the Justice Department after the November presidential election. Department of Justice policy prohibits prosecuting a sitting U.S. president.
“After several weeks of careful consideration, I have decided that it is right for the bureau to serve until the end of the current administration in January and then resign,” Director Wray said Wednesday, according to prepared remarks released by the FBI’s news agency. said. office.
“My goal is to stay focused on our mission: the essential work we do every day for the American people,” Wray said.
“In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the Secretariat deeper into conflict while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to the way we work,” the Director-General said.
Trump said in a social media post that Wray’s planned resignation is “a great day for America because it will end the weaponization of the organization known as the United States Department of Fraud.”
“We don’t know what happened to him. We will now restore the rule of law for all Americans,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “The FBI, under the leadership of Christopher Wray, illegally searched my home for no reason, worked diligently to illegally impeach and indict me, and did everything else to sabotage America’s success and future. ”
President Trump praised Patel, calling him “the most qualified candidate in FBI history to lead the FBI, and who will work to ensure that law, order, and justice is returned to our country, and soon.”
