FBI Director Christopher Wray said Wednesday he plans to resign at the end of President Biden's term in January. The announcement comes a week and a half after President-elect Trump announced his intention to nominate loyalist Kash Patel for the job. At a town hall meeting with the bureau's workforce, Wray said he would be stepping down "after weeks of careful thought." Wray's intended resignation is not unexpected considering that Trump had picked Patel for the role in his new administration, the AP reports.
Wray was named by Trump and began the 10-year term—a length meant to insulate the agency from the political influence of changing administrations—in 2017, after Trump fired then-FBI Director James Comey. Trump had telegraphed his anger with Wray on multiple occasions, including after Wray's congressional testimony in September. But the soft-spoken director rarely seemed to go out of his way to publicly confront the White House, the AP notes. In testimony last year, Wray said that as a Republican appointed by a Republican, it was "somewhat insane" to him to suggest he was biased against conservatives, the Washington Post reports.
"My goal is to keep the focus on our mission—the indispensable work you're doing on behalf of the American people every day. 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," Wray told FBI workers Wednesday, per the Post. "It should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway—this is not easy for me," he added. "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." (More FBI stories.)
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