FBI Director Christopher Wray to resign before Trump takes office happymamay

Christopher Wray, the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), has announced that he will resign from his position before President-elect Donald Trump takes office next month.

Wray announced his impending departure during an internal FBI meeting on Wednesday, according to CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.

President-elect Donald Trump has publicly indicated his desire to replace Mr. Wray with Kash Patel, a longtime loyalist who has called for “drastically” limiting the FBI’s power.

Wray, who was nominated by Trump in 2017 for a 10-year term, faced criticism during his term from Republicans over the FBI’s investigations into Trump after he left office.

Speaking at the FBI meeting on Wednesday, Mr Wray said: “After weeks of careful consideration, I have decided that 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 stay focused on our mission — the indispensable work you do on behalf of the American people every day,” he told his colleagues.

“In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the office deeper into the fray, while reinforcing the values ​​and principles that are so important to how we do our work,” Ray said.

He also addressed the FBI’s mission in his remarks, saying the bureau’s goal of “keeping Americans safe and upholding the Constitution” will not change.

Trump appointed Mr. Wray to lead the FBI after firing his predecessor, James Comey, in the wake of the FBI’s investigation into alleged contacts between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia.

But in recent years, Wray fell out of favor with the president-elect after he assisted the FBI in a federal investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents, a case that has since been dropped.

After being elected to a second term, Trump said his choice for FBI director would be Patel, a former aide who has been a strong supporter of the incoming Republican president.