(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Departing FBI Director Chris Wray gave detailed instructions to the bureau’s agents on how to counter the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to reform the agency to eliminate partisan politics.
“We’ve got to maintain our independence and objectivity, staying above partisanship and politics,” Wray said in his farewell address on Friday. “Because that’s what the American people expect and, I think, that’s what they deserve.”
While Wray did not directly mention Trump, his speech centered around the bureau’s future. He announced his intent to step down as FBI director on Dec. 11, 2024, just weeks after Trump appointed Kash Patel as his pick to lead the agency in 2025.
At the time, Trump welcomed Wray’s resignation, hailing it as a “great day for America” that would “end the Weaponization” of the “United States Department of Injustice.”
“I just don’t know what happened to him,” Trump wrote in Truth Social. “We will now restore the Rule of Law for all Americans.”
NBC: Will you fire Christopher Wray?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: "It would sort of seem pretty obvious that if @Kash_Patel gets in, he's going to be taking somebody's place, right? That somebody is the man you're talking about." pic.twitter.com/dYQwfx5l5O
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) December 8, 2024
In contrast, Wray patted himself on the back for his seven-year tenure, claiming that he “personally” handed badges to 5,700 new agents and protected the Constitution from adversaries.
Despite his self-congratulatory remarks, Wray leaves behind a deeply unpopular FBI, which politicians from both parties have accused of political weaponization and corruption.
According to Pew Research, the DOJ, which oversees the bureau, is viewed unfavorably by a majority of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents (56%). This is likely tied to the Biden administration’s use of the justice system against Trump following the 2020 election.
In August 2022, the FBI conducted a highly publicized and aggressive raid of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in search of so-called classified documents.
Three months later, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith to investigate Trump, ultimately leading to two highly questionable criminal cases related to the documents dispute and the events of Jan. 6.
Both cases crumbled amid major legal challenges and ended following Trump’s landslide victory in the 2024 election.
Notably, Trump has previously criticized the FBI for conducting the raid, which covered First Lady Melania Trump’s personal belongings.
“Under the leadership of Christopher Wray, the FBI illegally raided my home, without cause, worked diligently on illegally impeaching and indicting me, and has done everything else to interfere with the success and future of America,” Trump wrote in his social media platform. “They have used their vast powers to threaten and destroy many innocent Americans, some of which will never be able to recover from what has been done to them.”
