PBS News Hour

AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour."

In a highly unusual move, the director of the FBI is stepping down.

Christopher Wray announced today that he intends to leave his position when president-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.

That comes after Mr. Trump named Kash Patel as his nominee to run the FBI, despite the fact that Trump was the one who appointed Wray, and Wray was serving a 10-year term that wasn't set to end until 2027.

Speaking to FBI employees, Wray addressed his decision to resign.

CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI Director: My goal is to keep the focus on our mission, on the indispensable work each of you is doing every single day.

And in my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray, while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important in how we do our work.

AMNA NAWAZ: Our White House correspondent, Laura Barron-Lopez, has been following the developments and joins us now.

So, Laura, what else did Chris Wray say in those remarks, and why did he decide to announce this and step down?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: The FBI director, Wray, was faced with two options, Amna, either resign or be faced with firing by president-elect Donald Trump.

And FBI Director Wray said that this decision came after weeks of careful thought.

And much of the FBI's work on that is far afield from politics, and that was something that the FBI director spoke about today.

This is an apolitical organization, and he talked a lot about the mission of the bureau today in his remarks.

CHRISTOPHER WRAY: Our dedication to independence and objectivity and our defense of the rule of law, those fundamental aspects of who we are must never change.

That's the real strength of the FBI, the importance of our mission, the quality of our people and their dedication to service over self.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: The FBI's dedication to the rule of law, it being a nonpartisan bureau, is a norm that was more established after the Watergate scandal, Amna.

And FBI Director Wray also added that the FBI is only on the side of the Constitution and that it has to follow the facts, he said -- quote -- "no matter who likes it or doesn't."

AMNA NAWAZ: Laura, take a step back here for us and just tell us, how unprecedented is this moment in history and for the FBI?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: It's incredibly unprecedented, Amna.

And, as you noted, FBI directors are confirmed to a 10-year term.

And all FBI directors to date have been Republicans, including Wray.

And that 10-year term is designed to insulate the director from politicians and to maintain the FBI's independence.

It's not normal for the FBI director to resign in this fashion and not normal for them to not necessarily - - not normal for them to be fired either.

Only two directors have been fired in the history of the FBI, one under President Bill Clinton and one under Donald Trump, meaning James Comey in 2017.

AMNA NAWAZ: And we saw president-elect Trump respond quickly to Wray's announcement.

What did he say?

And also what should we understand about his history with the bureau?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: President-elect Trump celebrated, no surprise, Wray's resignation and decision to step down in a TRUTH Social post.

And in that post, Trump said that under Wray's leadership, the FBI -- quote -- "illegally raided my home without cause."

It's false that it was an illegal search of Mar-a-Lago, Amna, which was a search conducted for classified documents that the former president at the time had at Mar-a-Lago.

But Trump also said in the post - - quote -- "We want our FBI back, and that will now happen."

I look forward to Kash Patel's confirmation so that the process of making the FBI great again can begin."

Kash Patel is the president-elect's nominee to lead the FBI.

And Trump appointed Wray -- in terms of his history, he appointed Wray after he fired James Comey in 2017, angry that Comey was investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.

And at that time, Trump said that Wray was a model of integrity and a guardian of the law.

But, since, Trump and Republicans have soured on the FBI, they have called it the deep state, including Kash Patel, his nominee to lead the FBI, has called it the deep state, saying he wants to fire multiple people across the FBI, Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: I know, in your reporting today, you talked to multiple current and former law enforcement officials, including from the FBI.

How are they responding to all this?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Multiple former FBI officials I talked to said that they're disappointed but not surprised.

A number of them said that they thought that Christopher Wray should have stayed in the role and forced Trump to fire him, because they believe that would have more maintained the bureau's independence and shown that it is not partisan, that this is a role that is separate from the president.

And a current government law enforcement official said the big question remaining is what role will politics play in the FBI now and how they conduct their investigations, with many concerned about Kash Patel potentially leading that bureau.

AMNA NAWAZ: Briefly, Laura, what happens next?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: What happens next is that Paul Abbate, who is currently the deputy director at the bureau, very well -- he's next in line to become the acting director of the bureau.

That's, of course, though, Amna, if president-elect Donald Trump doesn't decide to fire him and appoint his own acting director, which he has the power to do.

It would have to be someone that has already been Senate-confirmed, but he could pull them from anywhere in government.

AMNA NAWAZ: Laura Barron-Lopez with the latest.

Laura, thank you.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Thank you.