Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
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 it’s such a dangerous time, why resign?” host Scott Pelley asked.
Wray, 58, had just described the biggest threats to the United States, from communist China’s ability to attack critical US infrastructure to domestic terrorists like New Orleans Attacker Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who was radicalized “not in years, but in weeks.”
FORMER FBI DIRECTOR JAMES COMEY ASKS VOTERS TO REELECT JOE BIDEN: ‘YOU SHOULD VOTE FOR HIM’
FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 12, 2017. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“My decision to retire from the FBI “It was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make,” Wray responded.
The outgoing FBI chief said that while he cares deeply about the FBI and “our people,” his decision to leave after serving only seven years of his 10-year term was motivated by President-elect Donald Trump’s stated desire to a change in leadership. in the office. Wray announced that he would be leaving his position in December.
“The president-elect had made it clear that he intended to make a change…my conclusion was that it was in the best interest of the office to do it in an orderly manner. To not bring the office further into the fray,” Wray said.
FBI DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER WRAY ANNOUNCES HIS RESIGNATION
Local law enforcement officers are seen outside former President Donald Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on August 9, 2022. (GIORGIO VIERA/AFP via Getty Images)
Wray, a Yale Law School graduate who joined the Justice Department in 1997, was nominated by Trump to lead the office in 2017 after he fired then-FBI Director James Comey..
Trump and Wray’s relationship has since deteriorated after the FBI. They raided Mar-a-Lago after the president-elect was accused of possessing classified documents in his private residence.
“Our job at the FBI is to follow the facts wherever they lead, no matter who likes it,” Wray told “60 Minutes.”
Wray further escalated tensions with Trump after he questioned whether he was actually shot at his July 2023 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“With respect to former President Trump, there are questions about whether or not it was a bullet or shrapnel that hit him in the ear,” Wray told House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) in a hearing about the attack.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Trump’s campaign spokesman and incoming White House communications director criticized Wray at the time for peddling “conspiracy nonsense” for “political reasons” in a statement given to the New York Post.
Trump nominated his former ally Kashyap “Kash” Patel to succeed Wray as bureau chief.
Patel, 44, a member of the National Security Council during Trump’s first term and author of the book “Government Gangsters,” has been one of the president-elect’s most controversial picks.
Former Reagan CIA chief William H. Webster, 100, wrote to senators urging them not confirm Patelsaying his confirmation would set a “dangerous precedent.”
“The resignation of Christopher Wray is a great day for the United States, as it will end the militarization of what is known as the United States Department of Justice,” Trump published in Truth Social after Wray announced his resignation in December 2024.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
During his interview on “60 Minutes,” Wray expressed his opinion that China poses the greatest threat to the United States.
“The Chinese government is pre-positioning critical US civilian infrastructure to stalk those networks and be in a position to wreak havoc and inflict real-world damage at a time and place of their choosing,” he said.
