Trump says he will replace FBI Director Wray with loyalist Kash Patel

President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that he planned to replace FBI Director Christopher A. Wray with Kash Patel, a move that would install a staunch loyalist atop an agency Trump has repeatedly criticized.

This pick – which cannot happen unless Trump fires Wray or the FBI director steps down in the middle of his 10-year term – comes as the president-elect has rolled out appointments and proposed nominations that appear aimed at putting his political allies in key positions where officials and agencies had contradicted or angered him in the past.

The FBI has long been a target of Trump’s anger. While in office and afterward, Trump derided the country’s premier law enforcement agency as “badly broken” and said it “lost the confidence of America.” Trump has also singled out Wray, whom he picked to be the FBI director during his first term, for criticism over the years.

FBI directors typically have 10-year tenures, unique among appointments in the executive branch. That span, which extends beyond two consecutive presidential terms, was imposed in 1976 as a post-Watergate government reform effort.

The position also requires Senate confirmation, though it’s unclear whether there will be strong opposition once Patel is formally nominated.

“Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People,” Trump wrote on social media Saturday night.

Trump has repeatedly taken aim at norms and institutions during his political career, and his Saturday night announcement that he intends to replace an FBI director who has three years left in their tenure is the latest example.

Some of his efforts have been unsuccessful. Trump initially sought to nominate former congressman Matt Gaetz, a Trump ally and fervent critic of the Justice Department, to serve as attorney general. Gaetz withdrew from contention amid allegations that he had paid women, as well as a 17-year-old girl, for sex. Trump then said he would instead nominate Pam Bondi, a former Florida attorney general. In his statement Saturday evening, Trump said Patel would work with Bondi to “bring back Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity to the FBI.”

By selecting Patel, Trump is seeking to replace Wray with a vociferous defender who has echoed his criticisms of what both men call the “deep state” and spoken approvingly of the need for retribution against perceived enemies. Patel’s name had also been floated as a possible pick to lead the CIA in a second Trump administration, but the president-elect selected John Ratcliffe instead.

The FBI in a statement Saturday evening did not address whether Wray plans to step down from his position.

“Director Wray’s focus remains on the men and women of the FBI, the people we do the work with, and the people we do the work for,” the bureau’s statement said.

Patel, who worked in Trump’s first administration, has publicly mused about targeting journalists and government officials, and he published a list of “deep state” names in a book last year titled “Government Gangsters.” Promotional materials for the book included a quote from Trump, who called it a “roadmap highlighting every corrupt actor” and a “blueprint to help us take back the White House and remove these Gangsters from all of Government.”

Ahead of Trump’s announcement, Patel last weekend criticized federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, for not cooperating with Republican congressional investigations.

“The constitutional oversight responsibilities of the United States House of Representatives and the Senate has been lost by the leaders of the deep state in Washington, D.C., and I think President Trump is going to restore that with his selections and his nominees,” Patel said last Sunday in an interview on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”

Asked about former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe saying no part of the FBI would be “safe” with Patel in a leadership role at the agency, Patel said those accusations were baseless.

“Those calling me a danger, let’s just ask them for a proof, a piece of evidence that actually shows I’ve committed any constitutional violations or any ethical quandaries, and I’d love to hear their response to this,” Patel said.

Patel, whose given first name is Kashyap, has held numerous roles in and around government agencies for years, including stints as a public defender, a federal prosecutor and as the chief of staff to Christopher Miller, who was acting defense secretary during part of Trump’s first term, according to a biography posted by the Pentagon. In addition, Patel worked as a counterterrorism adviser in Trump’s first White House.

He also advised then-Rep. Devin Nunes (R-California) while the congressman was a fierce critic of the investigation into whether Trump’s 2016 campaign coordinated with Russian interference in that year’s presidential election. Later, after Trump left office, Patel appeared before a grand jury amid an investigation into Trump’s handling of classified materials.

In his announcement on Saturday, Trump praised Patel for his handling of the election interference inquiries, which Trump has roundly criticized. “He played a pivotal role in uncovering the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, standing as an advocate for truth, accountability, and the Constitution,” Trump said.

Appearing last year on “War Room” – the right-wing podcast hosted by longtime Trump ally Stephen K. Bannon – Patel said those who have wronged the 45th president would pay during a second Trump term. Asked about his plans if he served in Trump’s next administration, Patel vowed to “go out and find the conspirators not just in government, but in the media.”

“Yes, we’re gonna come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections,” he continued, referencing Trump’s false claims that Biden stole the 2020 election. “We’re going to come after you, whether it’s criminally or civilly – we’ll figure that out.”

Wray has led the FBI since 2017. That year, Trump fired FBI Director James B. Comey amid the bureau’s investigation into whether Trump associates coordinated with Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Robert S. Mueller III, a former FBI director himself, was then appointed special counsel to oversee that investigation. Trump repeatedly castigated Mueller and the investigation.

Trump selected Wray, who had been a senior Justice Department official under President George W. Bush, to lead the bureau as his replacement. He soon soured on Wray, complaining about the FBI director’s support for the Justice Department’s investigation into Russian interference, among other things. In 2020, while running for reelection, Trump complained that the FBI director was not doing enough to help his campaign and weighed firing Wray.

That same year, Trump considered installing Patel as the bureau’s deputy director, according to “I Alone Can Fix It,” a book written by two Washington Post journalists. William P. Barr, then attorney general, blocked the move, saying he would resign if it happened, according to the book.

The FBI director has given no indication since Trump’s victory that he intends to resign. In the days after the election, he was booking his schedule well into 2025, according to a person familiar with Wray’s leadership who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss information that has not been made public.

Vice President-elect JD Vance mentioned last week that he and Trump were interviewing candidates for FBI director and wrote on social media that it was “important to get an FBI director who will dismantle the deep state.”

Former Republican congressman Mike Rogers’s name had circulated as a more traditional option to replace Wray. Rogers, who ran unsuccessfully for Senate in Michigan this year, is a former FBI agent and once chaired the House Intelligence Committee. But people close to Trump publicly quashed the idea late last week amid pushback from MAGA influencers, who suggested Rogers was not loyal enough.

After Trump left office in 2021, the FBI remained a popular target for criticism from Trump and his allies, who alleged that the bureau was unfairly targeting conservatives. In 2022, the FBI conducted a court-approved search for classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s home and private club, prompting another cacophony of criticism and threats against FBI agents.

Testifying on Capitol Hill last year, Wray said it was “somewhat insane to me” to suggest he was biased against conservatives, given that he was a Republican appointed by another Republican.

Trump and his allies further criticized Wray this summer after the FBI director testified before Congress that there were questions about whether “a bullet or shrapnel” struck Trump during the July 13 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. After a barrage of criticism, the FBI released a statement saying Trump was indeed hit by a bullet or bullet fragments.

Trump responded on social media, writing: “I assume that’s the best apology that we’ll get from Director Wray, but it is fully accepted!” The FBI interviewed Trump as part of its investigation into the shooting, and officials said he was cooperative.