FBI Director Wray Explains Why He’s Resigning, Defends Search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago

FBI Director Christopher Wray appears before the House Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill, on July 24, 2024. Chris Kleponis/AFP via Getty Images

FBI Director Christopher Wray on Sunday explained why he is stepping down as head of the law enforcement bureau as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office in one week.

“My decision to retire from the FBI, I have to tell you, it was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make,” Wray told CBS’s “60 Minutes” in what is likely his last interview as FBI chief. “I care deeply, deeply about the FBI, about our mission, and in particular, about our people.”

However, he said, the “president-elect had made clear that he intended to make a change and the law is that that is something he’s able to do for any reason or no reason at all.”

In December 2024, Wray announced he would be leaving his post at the end of President Joe Biden’s term amid comments made by Trump signaling he would replace him. Trump has since named Kash Patel, a former intelligence official, to be in charge of the FBI, a position that needs Senate confirmation.

Trump in his first term nominated Wray to lead the FBI in 2017 for a 10-year term ending in 2027.

However, the president-elect has often expressed his displeasure with the federal law enforcement bureau, particularly after its agents searched his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida in August 2022 for classified documents.

Trump was later charged by special counsel Jack Smith for what prosecutors say was the illegal retention of classified materials and for obstructing attempts to get them back. Last month, Smith opted to drop an appeal of a federal judge’s earlier order that had dissolved the case, and late last week, Smith resigned as special counsel.

When Wray announced last month that he would leave, Trump responded in a Truth Social post that it is a “great day for America” because, according to him, “it will end the Weaponization of” the Department of Justice.

“I just don’t know what happened to him. We will now restore the Rule of Law for all Americans,” Trump wrote.

The president-elect then praised Patel, saying he would be “committed” to bringing “law, order, and justice” to the United States.

In Sunday’s interview with “60 Minutes,” Wray elaborated on why he would leave the law enforcement bureau.

“My conclusion was that the thing that was best for the Bureau was to try to do this in an orderly way, to not thrust the FBI deeper into the fray,” he said before praising FBI officials and agents.

“They tackle the job with a level of rigor and tenacity and professionalism and objectivity that I think is unparalleled, and I will tell you, it’s been the honor of a lifetime to serve with them,” he said of the agents.

Regarding the Mar-a-Lago search, Wray backed his agents’ decision, saying it is the FBI’s responsibility to “follow the facts wherever they lead, no matter who likes it.” He also said that searching Trump’s Palm Beach property and resort was seen as a last resort.

“And when we learn that information, classified material, is not being properly stored, we have a duty to act. And I can tell you that in investigations like this one, a search warrant is not and here was not anybody’s first choice,” he told the outlet.

When he was asked about Patel and other Cabinet nominees, Wray said he would not weigh in on Trump’s selections.

“Facts and the law drive investigations, not politics or partisan preferences,” he said, referring to the FBI.

Aside from speaking on his tenure as FBI director, Wray again warned that the greatest threat that the United States faces is the Chinese communist regime as state-backed malign actors have repeatedly targeted and hacked into U.S. infrastructure and companies.