FBI Director Chris Wray announces that he is stepping down at the end of President Joe Biden’s term.
Donald Trump plans on nominating Kashyap “Kash” Patel to lead the FBI, and Wray’s stepping down will make that task easier for him.
Trump himself had appointed Wray, a fellow Republican, to his 10-year term in 2017, after firing his predecessor James Comey, who the then-president soured on over the FBI’s investigations into alleged contacts between his 2016 campaign and Russia.
Reuters
Wray tells agents he will “serve until the end of the current Administration in January and then step down… In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray…”
It’s possible that Wray hopes stepping down will prevent more months of GOP attacks on the FBI and restore trust in the agency. Whatever his reason, one could argue that trusting the agency under the leadership of an extreme Trump loyalist like Kash Patel would be a terrible mistake.
FBI directors typically serve a 10-year term. Wray’s term would not have ended until 2027.
Despite appointing Wray himself, Trump and MAGA Republicans vilified him after the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago for classified documents, allegedly taken from the U.S. government when Trump left office. Agents recovered boxes of documents but the case was dropped when Trump won the election last month.
Trump’s Response
The resignation of Christopher Wray is a great day for America as it will end the Weaponization of what has become known as the United States Department of Injustice. I just don’t know what happened to him. We will now restore the Rule of Law for all Americans. Under the leadership of Christopher Wray, the FBI illegally raided my home, without cause, worked diligently on illegally impeaching and indicting me, and has done everything else to interfere with the success and future of America. They have used their vast powers to threaten and destroy many innocent Americans, some of which will never be able to recover from what has been done to them.
