Christopher Wray Resigns: What’s the Future of the FBI Under Donald Trump’s 2nd Term?

In a move that did not come as a surprise, FBI Director Christopher Wray announced Wednesday that he will resign at the end of President Joe Biden’s term in January. This will pave the way for Donald Trump’s replacement pick of loyalist Kash Patel to take over for Wray if Patel is confirmed by the Senate when Trump takes office again in January for his 2nd term as President of the United States.

This would give Trump a power structure where the Republicans have a majority in the House of Representatives, the Senate, a 6-3 conservative majority in the Supreme Court, and Patel would be a major Trump supporter running the FBI in a way that Wray never would.

Many legal experts are already concerned about this development as the FBI, which is part of the Department of Justice (DOJ), is supposed to be an independent law enforcement agency that is not politicized. While some can argue it has been politicized in the last decade, letting someone like Patel run it to do Trump’s bidding would be overtly political and the most biased way of handing out justice in the country.

That’s also why many feel Wray should have forced Trump to fire him as he had a mandated 10-year term by Congress and is ending it early with his resignation. Let’s look at why Trump has soured on Wray, who he appointed to the job in 2017, and why Patel could be a dangerous pick for the future of the FBI.

#FBI Director Christopher Wray announces that he will step down at the end of the current administration.

Learn more: https://t.co/W7xY34F37h pic.twitter.com/FIJ5QIjI29

— FBI (@FBI) December 11, 2024

Trump’s Rocky Relationship with Wray

In 2017, President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, who played a significant role in the 2016 election involving both parties. It was Comey who announced just 2 weeks before the 2016 election that he was reopening the investigation into Democrat Hillary Clinton’s emails, which many felt had a negative impact on her campaign when she lost to Trump.

In that regard, Trump should have felt thankful for Comey doing the job he did. However, Comey also targeted Trump in an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, which is why Trump fired him in 2017.

Wray Appointed Director

Trump appointed Christopher Wray as the new FBI Director in 2017, calling him “a model of integrity” and that he was an “impeccably qualified individual” for the job. It was supposed to last as a 10-year term, a protection created by Congress to limit political influence, especially from the White House, on the FBI Director. It should be noted that Trump did not attend Wray’s swearing-in ceremony, the first time that’s ever happened for a President with an FBI Director he nominated.

Over the next few years, Wray would defend the FBI for investigating Russian interference in the presidential elections despite Trump’s outcries that these are all “witch hunts” and not worth their time.

In 2021, Wray was again at odds with Trump after the storming at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 by Trump’s supporters who believed the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. Wray condemned the violence as domestic terrorism.

In 2022, Wray’s FBI conducted a search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, which is how they found the classified documents improperly stored that he shouldn’t have had in his possession. That led to a criminal indictment against Trump, which would only be thrown out after he won the 2024 election and the DOJ dropped the case. Trump believes the classified documents case and the claims of him leading the insurrection on January 6, 2021 prove that there is a Deep State hoax against him and the FBI is involved.

Trump Vows to Fire Wray

After winning the election, Trump vowed to fire Wray and replace him with Kash Patel. On December 11, 2024, Wray announced his resignation, cutting his tenure 3 years short as FBI Director.

After Wray’s resignation, Trump took to social media to say it’s “a great day for America as it will end the Weaponization of what has become known as the United States Department of Injustice.”

Trump continued: “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.”

The resignation of Christopher Wray is a great day for America as it will end the Weaponization of what has become known as the United States Department of Injustice. I just don’t know what happened to him. We will now restore the Rule of Law for all Americans. Under the…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 12, 2024

Project 2025’s Take on the FBI

Project 2025 is a political initiative prepared by the Heritage Foundation that many feel is a 900-page playbook for Donald Trump’s 2nd term as president. It details many conservative and right-wing policies to reshape America, and it has been researched that over 140 people involved with the 1st Trump administration had a hand in the creation of Project 2025. 

While Trump is still going to do what he wants as president, many feel he will follow some major aspects of Project 2025, including its views on the justice department. Many already have said that Trump had the misconception in his 1st term that the FBI works for him instead of for the people.

Project 2025 aims to make Trump’s vision a reality. In an interview with the New York Times in January 2024, Kevin Roberts, an architect of Project 2025 at the Heritage Foundation, said: “we just disagree wholly that the Department of Justice is independent of the president or the executive branch.”

Project 2025 is a massive document that has plans for the FBI under a 2nd Trump term. Those plans include making the FBI personally accountable (read: loyal) to the president, and to stop investigating online misinformation and police misconduct.

According to former DOJ inspector general Michael Bromwich, the plans to convert these departments into “instruments” to satisfy Trump’s political agenda “should send shivers down the spine of anyone who cares about the rule of law.”

It remains to be seen which, if any, aspects of Project 2025 make their way into Trump’s policies for his 2nd term. But the theme here is an FBI that works for the president, which is not how things are supposed to be.

Who Is Trump’s Pick Kash Patel?

Trump’s pick to replace Wray as FBI Director is Kash Patel, a 44-year-old lawyer and prosecutor who has worked in the DOJ and was part of Trump’s 1st administration in various roles. He played a key part in helping Republicans during the Russian interference investigation in the 2016 election.

If the FBI is going to be loyal to the president, then Patel is the right pick for Trump. He’d have to be confirmed by Senate before he can assume the role, but that is likely to happen in a Republican-controlled Senate.

A Controversial Pick

But while the FBI is supposed to be apolitical, Patel has been very open about his bias as a pro-Trump loyalist who will appeal to the president in a way that Comey or Wray never could. Patel is a very controversial pick as he has been known to tout conspiracy theories.

On a podcast with Steve Bannon, Patel basically admitted that he wants like-minded people in the FBI. “We’ve got to put in all-American patriots top to bottom,” Patel said, noting that his department “will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government but in the media.” He also added: “Yes, we’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections — we’re going to come after you.”

Patel believes strongly in the existence of a Deep State. Patel wrote in his book Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy that “the FBI is now the prime functionary of the Deep State. The politicized leadership at the very top has turned it into a tool of surveillance and suppression of American citizens.”

Patel’s Controversial Views

Patel has also pushed conspiracy theories about QAnon and COVID-19, including pills you can take that allegedly reverse the effects of COVID vaccines. Patel has also written children’s books with a Trump-based character called “King Donald” who must overcome villainous characters like “Hillary Queenton”‘ and “Comma-la-la-la.”

At 44, Patel would be the youngest FBI Director. If Trump’s plan for his next term is retribution, Patel would be the perfect choice for him to run the FBI.

The perfect choice for justice and citizens? Not likely. But let’s see if he passes his confirmation first.