FBI Director Christopher Wray on why he's resigning and the threats facing America
FBI Director Christopher Wray, in his only broadcast exit interview since announcing his planned resignation, said his decision to step down nearly three years early was one of the hardest choices he's ever had to make.
Wray oversaw the largest case in FBI history — the investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol attack — along with investigations into both President Biden and President-elect Donald Trump, making it among the most politically fraught terms in the FBI's 116-year history. He'll leave before Trump, who appointed him in 2017, returns to the White House.
"I care deeply, deeply about the FBI, about our mission and in particular about our people. But the president-elect had made clear that he intended to make a change, and the law is that, that is something he is able to do for any reason or no reason at all," Wray said. "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."
Wray, Biden and Trump
The fray is all 58-year-old Wray has known since he was nominated in 2017 after Trump fired then-FBI Director James Comey as the FBI was investigating whether Trump campaign associates schemed with Russia to sway the 2016 election. The FBI investigated the alleged plot to overturn the 2020 election, drawing Trump's ire.
"Our job as investigators at the FBI is to follow the facts wherever they lead, no matter who likes it," Wray said. "And I add that last part because one of the things that I've seen over my seven-and-a-half years as FBI director is that people often claim to be very interested in independence and objectivity until independence and objectivity lead to an outcome they don't like. You know, truth is truth, not necessarily what either side wants it to be."
All the FBI can do is focus on doing the work and doing it the right way, following the rules, Wray said.
"We tried very hard to make sure that we've stayed faithful to those principals, those rules, in every investigation that [has] been occurring on my watch," Wray said.
Trump is also livid about the 2022 FBI search for classified files at his home. A Trump lawyer certified that all classified documents had been returned to the government. But the FBI said it later found 72 documents marked top secret or secret — including at least one about U.S. military strength.
"Part of the FBI's job is to safeguard classified information. 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," Wray said. "We always try to pursue, invariably try to pursue the least intrusive means: first trying to get the information back voluntarily, then with a subpoena. And only if, after all that, we learn that the agents haven't been given all of the classified material and in fact those efforts have been frustrated, even obstructed, then our agents are left with no choice but to go to a federal judge, make a probable cause showing, and get a search warrant. And that's what happened here."
Wray said he has not had any interactions with the Biden White House regarding investigations into Trump. And, to the best of his knowledge, no one else at the FBI has interacted with the Biden White House regarding investigations into Trump.
Wray's FBI also investigated President Biden for keeping classified documents, and separately, investigated Biden's son, Hunter, who was convicted on gun and tax charges. Biden pardoned his son last month calling the investigation "raw politics."
Wray knew dealing with criticisms from the powerful, even presidents, was part of the job.
"This is a hard job. You're inevitably going to make different people angry, often very powerful people," Wray said. "But part of the essence of the rule of law is to make sure that facts, and the law, and proper predication drive investigations, not who's in power, not who wants it to be so or not so."
Wray oversaw the largest case in FBI history—the attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021. Trump has vowed to pardon many of the 1,500 people who have been charged.
"I do think it's important to step back and remember that we're talking about hundreds of people who are convicted, most of them pled guilty of serious federal crimes," Wray said. "Heck, I think 170 or so of them pled guilty to assaulting law enforcement, dozens of them with dangerous or deadly weapons. And there's a whole bunch that were convicted of seditious conspiracy."
China "the defining threat of our generation"
While Wray's term was fraught with the investigations into Trump and Biden, it's China that he's focused on as a major concern. He believes China is the greatest long-term threat facing the U.S. and is the "defining threat of our generation."
China's cyber program has stolen more personal and corporate data from the U.S. than any other nation in the world combined, Wray said. The Chinese government has also infiltrated American civilian critical infrastructure.
"To lie in wait on those networks to be in a position to wreak havoc and can inflict real-world harm at a time and place of their choosing," Wray said.
Wray says that the Chinese government's pre-positioning on American civilian critical infrastructure – like water treatment plants, transportation systems, and telecommunications has not gotten the attention it deserves.
It's believed, according to Wray, that China has been able to access communications of some people in the U.S. government.
New threats of terror
It's part of a world of trouble including the chaos in the Middle East, spawning new threats of terror. Wray pointed to the arrest of a Pakistani citizen just a few months ago, who he says was trying to get to New York City to conduct a mass shooting at a Jewish center in Brooklyn.
"And, in his words, not my words, his words, he wanted to conduct the largest attack in the U.S. since 9/11," Wray said. "So what I would say to the American people is that, when you think these things are happening half a world away, it's like that little inscription on your mirror in your car: 'Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear.'"
Wray also addressed Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the man behind the truck attack in New Orleans that left more than a dozen dead.
"It's pretty clear so far that this is a guy who was radicalized online and who was determined to try to murder as many innocent people as he could in the name of ISIS," Wray said.
While the investigation is still ongoing, Wray said it's clear Jabbar was inspired by the Islamic State from afar.
"And it is, in many ways, the most challenging type of terrorist threat we face," Wray said. "You're talking about guys like this, who radicalize not in years but in weeks, and whose method of attack is still very deadly but fairly crude."
Wray points to increasing challenges in dealing with terror threats "there are not a lot of dots out there to connect. And there's very little time in which to connect them."
What's next for the FBI?
Trump is nominating Kash Patel, who must be confirmed by the Senate, to fill the role as FBI director. Patel served in national security roles in Trump's first administration. In 2023, Patel wrote a book naming officials he considers corrupt, including Wray.
"You know, I'm not gonna weigh in on specific people or their rhetoric," Wray said. "From where I sit, facts and law drive investigations, not politics or partisan preference."
Trump weighed in on Wray's resignation announcement, calling it "a great day for America." Trump wrote, "the FBI illegally raided my home without cause" and said Wray had done everything to "interfere with the success and future of America."
"Listen, I'm accustomed to people expressing all sorts of opinions about me, just like about everything else. I can tell you that, I have been my whole life, my whole adult life, a conservative Republican, more importantly, a strict, by-the-book law enforcement professional," Wray said. "I do take very seriously attacks against our people in the FBI. And I will tell you that the FBI that I see every single day is 38,000 career law enforcement professionals. Not one of them is a political appointee. Not one of them."
The FBI tackles work with rigor, tenacity, professionalism and objectivity, Wray said.
"And I will tell you it's been the honor of a lifetime to serve with them."