- FBI Director Christopher Wray announced his planned resignation by the end of the current administration.
- In response to Wray’s announcement, Trump dubbed the day 'a great day for America.'
- Former Utah congressman Chris Stewart previously expressed positive expectations for Patel's leadership, based on previous collaboration together.
FBI Director Christopher Wray announced Wednesday that he will resign by the end of the current administration’s term in office, leaving the door open for President-elect Donald Trump’s appointment of Kash Patel.
The director positions typically are 10-year terms, but Trump had threatened to fire Wray and install Patel.
This marks the second time the president-elect has replaced an FBI chief. Trump previously fired Director James Comey over his handling of the investigation into Russia’s interference in the U.S. election. Wray was appointed to Comey’s place, but soon suffered the same fate after the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago amid the investigation into the mishandling of classified documents.
Wray, in his announcement at an FBI town hall Wednesday, said he’s “decided the right thing for the Bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current Administration in January and then step down,” according to his prepared remarks, obtained by CNN. “In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the Bureau deeper into the fray, while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work.”
He acknowledged it wasn’t easy to make this decision, saying, “I love this place, I love our mission, and I love our people.”
“But my focus is, and always has been, on us and doing what’s right for the FBI,” Wray added.
In response to the news, Trump called it “a great day for America” while celebrating the end of the weaponization of the U.S. Department of Justice, according to his latest post on Truth Social.
The president-elect said he didn’t know what happened to Wray since he appointed him in 2017. Trump has often criticized Wray for cooperating with the investigations into him.
“As everyone knows, I have great respect for the rank-and-file of the FBI, and they have great respect for me. They want to see these changes every bit as much as I do but, more importantly, the American People are demanding a strong, but fair, System of Justice,” Trump said.
“I look forward to Kash Patel’s confirmation, so that the process of Making the FBI Great Again can begin,” he concluded.
Patel told reporters Wednesday, “We look forward to a very smooth transition at the FBI and I’ll be ready to go on Day 1.”
Utah’s former Rep. Chris Stewart, who previously served on the House Intelligence Committee, posted a clip of his appearance on “The Hugh Hewitt Show” on X last week. In the video, he validates the skepticism Americans feel against the FBI’s leadership.
Stewart, a Republican, said he has known Patel for about a decade, and said the FBI director nominee is “very, very bright.” The two worked closely when Patel served as a key counsel on the House intelligence panel during the investigation into Russian collusion. “He was key to finding out some of these, you know, these malicious, political, you know, just nefarious things,” the former Utah congressman added.
“He knows how deep the problems are. ... And he’s got enough courage that he’s gonna go in and fix it,” Stewart added.