CNN
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FBI Director Chris Wray will resign at the end of the Biden administration, according to a statement from the FBI Wednesday.
President-elect Donald Trump previously announced he will nominate Kash Patel for the role, although Wray still had three years remaining on his 10-year term.
Wray made his announcement at an FBI town hall.
Hear Kash Patel’s plans for the FBI
“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.
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. 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.
Following his election victory, 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.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
