FBI Director Christopher Wray revealed why he decided to resign “during such a dangerous time” and with nearly three years left in his term during an interview on CBS' “60 Minutes” on Sunday.
“If this is such a dangerous time, why resign?” host Scott Pelley asked.
Wray, 58, had just outlined the biggest threats the United States faces from Communist China's ability to attack critical American infrastructure to domestic terrorists such as… New Orleans striker Shams al-Din Jabbar, who became extremist “not in years, but in weeks.”
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FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 12, 2017. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“My decision Retirement from the FBI “It was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make,” Ray replied.
The outgoing FBI chief said that although he cared deeply about the FBI and “our people,” his decision to leave after serving just seven years of his ten-year term was driven by President-elect Donald Trump's stated desire for a change in leadership. In the office. Ray announced that he would leave his position in December.
“The president-elect has made clear that he intends to make a difference… and my conclusion was that the best thing for the office was to do it in an organized way. And not to push the office deeper into the fray,” Wray said.
FBI Director Christopher Wray announces his resignation
Local law enforcement officers in front of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida on August 9, 2022. (Giorgio Vieira/AFP via Getty Images)
Wray, a Yale Law School graduate, joined the Justice Department in 1997, and was nominated by Trump to run the office in 2017 after he fired then-FBI Director James Comey.
Trump and Wray's relationship has since deteriorated after the F.B.I Mar-a-Lago raided After the president-elect was accused of possessing secret documents in his private residence.
“Our job at the FBI is to follow the facts wherever they lead, regardless of who loves them,” Wray told 60 Minutes.
Wray heightened tensions with Trump after he questioned whether he had actually been shot during his July 2023 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“With respect to former President Trump, there is some question as to whether or not a bullet or shrapnel hit his ear,” Wray told House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) at a hearing on the attack.
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President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Tuesday, January 7, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Trump's campaign spokesman and the new White House communications director criticized Wray at the time as promoting “conspiracy bulls” for “political reasons” in a statement submitted to Congress. New York Post.
Trump nominated his old ally Kashyap “Cash” Patel to succeed Ray as head of the bureau.
Patel, 44, who served on the National Security Council during Trump's first term and wrote the book “Gangs of Government,” was one of the president-elect's most controversial picks.
Reagan's former CIA chief, William Webster, 100, wrote to senators urging them to Patel's lack of confirmationConsidering that his confirmation would set a “dangerous precedent.”
Trump said: “The resignation of Christopher Wray is a great day for America because it will end the arming of what has become known as the US Department of Injustice.” Posted on Truth Social After Ray announced his resignation in December 2024.
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During his interview on 60 Minutes, Wray expressed his view that China poses the greatest threat to the United States.
“The Chinese government is already positioned on America’s critical civilian infrastructure to position these networks to be in a position to wreak havoc and cause real harm to the world at a time and place of its choosing,” he said.
