FBI Director Chris Wray to resign at end of Biden term, clearing way for Trump pick

(CNN) — FBI Director Chris Wray will resign at the end of the Biden administration, the agency said Wednesday, as it became clear he would be forced out by President-elect Donald Trump.

Trump, who originally nominated Wray after firing the previous FBI director, previously announced he will nominate Kash Patel for the role, although Wray still had three years remaining on his 10-year term. Patel has been meeting with senators to build support for a confirmation vote next year.

Wray had wrestled with whether or not to resign given Trump’s stated desire to replace him, sources say, and wants to facilitate an orderly transition. But some in the FBI worried his departure would normalize Trump’s penchant for replacing FBI directors he doesn’t like, as the position is supposed to straddle administrations and be insulated from politics.

Wray took the helm of the agency after Trump fired Director James Comey following investigations under his watch into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Wray took office after Comey, whose FBI also investigated Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, left the bureau in May 2017.

As the incoming director, Wray was seen by many lawmakers as a solid choice to stabilize a rocky ship, but he ultimately suffered a similar fate as his predecessor, after he too oversaw an FBI that investigated Trump, probes resulting in two separate federal cases against the former president.

Trump, in particular, was unhappy with the FBI’s court-approved search of his Mar-a-Lago resort in August 2022 during the investigation into his alleged mishandling of classified documents.

Just this week, Trump said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” that he wasn’t “thrilled” with Wray.

“He invaded my home,” Trump said. “He invaded Mar-a-Lago.”

Wray made his announcement at a town hall in FBI headquarters in Washington, DC. Following his remarks there was a standing ovation and some people were seen crying, according to sources who attended the event.

“After weeks of careful thought, I’ve 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. My goal is to keep the focus on our mission — the indispensable work you’re doing on behalf of the American people every day,” Wray said, according to prepared remarks from the FBI. “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.”

“It should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway — this is not easy for me. 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 a Truth Social post, Trump said Wray’s resignation “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.”

“I look forward to a smooth transition. I will be ready to serve the American people on day one,” Patel said in a statement Wednesday.

Sen. Josh Hawley, who sits on the Judiciary Committee, called Wray’s resignation announcement “a great development.”

“I mean, he’s the worst FBI director in American history, he should go,” said Hawley, a Missouri Republican, arguing that Wray had “violated the constitution” during his tenure. “This should not be partisan by the way. He’s a Republican, but he’s just been a bad director.”

Speaking on CNN, Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton lamented Trump’s move to push Wray out.

“Trump wants to politicize the FBI, to turn it back to the days of J. Edgar Hoover, where the FBI has its own really lawless agenda, where the FBI is a tool of the state to persecute Americans, not to actually uphold the law for everybody in our land,” Moulton, a Democrat, said. “So, it is very dangerous. And the calculation that Chris Wray made when he decided to to resign is a calculation that hundreds of thousands of federal employees are making right now, all across Washington and all across the country.”

Appointed by Trump but relationship soured

When Trump first chose Wray to lead the FBI in 2017, the two were on good terms. At the time, Trump said Wray would “serve his country as a fierce guardian of the law and model of integrity.”

Wray did seek to avoid turbulence with the White House and other lawmakers, giving detailed briefings on Capitol Hill and making reforms to the bureau in response to missteps in the Trump-Russia probe.

Still, the relationship quickly soured, and Trump’s disdain for Wray came out in public tweets and interviews where he bashed the FBI director for his hesitancy to make public documents related to the Russia investigation as well as his congressional testimony that Russia was working to interfere in the 2020 elections and that there was no evidence of coordinated national voter fraud.

The rift became even more apparent after Trump left the White House in 2021 and began to attack both Wray and the bureau as carrying out investigations for political reasons.

Following his election victory last month, Trump promised to get rid of Wray and replace him with Patel, a Trump loyalist and MAGA firebrand who has vowed to root out what he has referred to as the “Deep State” and re-focus the law enforcement agency’s mission.

Wray’s FBI also conducted the largest investigation in its long history in response to the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack – leading to the arrest of over 1,500 people accused of breaking the law that day.

Timing of announcement

In recent weeks, Wray had weighed whether to resign or wait to be fired, people briefed on the discussions said. An important part of his consideration was finding a way to say good bye to employees and to manage his own exit, the sources said.

The timing of his announcement was the only question. Then in recent days, Republicans began publicly paving the way to push Wray out, making clear it wasn’t just Trump but also influential Republicans on board with ousting him.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, incoming chairman of the Judiciary Committee, sent a letter saying he lacked confidence in the leadership of Wray and Deputy FBI Director Paul Abbate.

Internally at the FBI, Grassley’s letter was seen as a sign that Republicans were going to attack the bureau as a way to force Wray out, sources said.

In addition, resigning and having a deputy serve until a new director is in place allows for continuity and avoids risk of Wray being fired on January 20, 2025, a particular vulnerable point for the government as a new administration is taking over.

A source familiar with Wray’s thinking told CNN that leaving the agency on his own terms was an important factor in his announcement Wednesday. Wray was described as sad about his premature exit but was said to be approaching it with an attitude of resolve.

Attorney General Merrick Garland praised Wray’s leadership and “integrity” during his law enforcement career.

“The director of the FBI is responsible for protecting the independence of the FBI from inappropriate influence in its criminal investigations. That independence is central to preserving the rule of law and to protecting the freedoms we as Americans hold dear,” Garland said in a statement. “Director Wray has done that job with integrity and skill.”

During his address Wednesday, Wray insisted that the FBI cannot change it’s “commitment to doing the right thing, the right way, every time.”

“That’s the real strength of the FBI — the importance of our mission, the quality of our people, and their dedication to service over self. It’s an unshakeable foundation that’s stood the test of time,” Wray said, “and cannot be easily moved. And it — you, the men and women of the FBI — are why the bureau will endure and remain successful long into the future.”

This story has been updated with additional developments.

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Dana Bash and Hannah Rabinowitz contributed to this report.

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