FBI Director Christopher Wray announces plan to resign to pave way for Kash Patel, Trump says, ‘Great day for America’
FBI Director Christopher Wray announced his resignation effective January, coinciding with President Biden's term end, paving the way for Donald Trump's nominee, Kash Patel.
FBI Director Christopher Wray on Thursday announced that he will resign at the end of President Joe Biden's term in January clearing the way for President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee, Indian-American Kash Patel, to lead the agency. Trump welcomed the decision.
"After weeks of careful thought, I have 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," Wray told his FBI colleagues.
The FBI director told his colleagues that his goal is to keep the focus on the mission — "the indispensable work they are doing on behalf of the American people every day".
"And 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 said.
"It should go without saying, but I will 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 is right for the FBI. And it was important to me that you all got to hear about my decision directly from me before it gets announced publicly," he said.
Donald Trumps welcomes decision: ‘Great day for America’
Welcoming the decision, Trump said Wray's resignation was "a great day for America".
"It will end the weaponisation of what has become known as the United States Department of Injustice," he said.
On November 30, Trump nominated his loyalist and staunch supporter Patel as the next FBI director, thus cutting short Wray's 10-year term by three years.
Trump appointed Wray to lead the FBI during his first presidency after firing Wray’s predecessor James Comey in 2017 following the FBI's investigations into alleged contacts between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia.
But in recent years, Wray has fallen out of favour with the president-elect after the FBI assisted with a federal probe into Trump's handling of classified documents, a case that has since been dropped.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Business NewsNewsWorldFBI Director Christopher Wray announces plan to resign to pave way for Kash Patel, Trump says, ‘Great day for America’
First Published:12 Dec 2024, 04:09 PM IST
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