Outgoing FBI Director Christopher Wray stressed during his farewell address that the bureau must sidestep “partisanship and politics” in maintaining “independence” and “objectivity.”
Wray delivered his speech during a farewell ceremony at FBI headquarters, days before he is expected to resign from the post he has held for over seven years.
He emphasized the FBI needs to do its work with “professionalism, with rigor, with integrity” while following the facts “wherever they lead.”
“It means conducting investigations without fear or favor. And it means not pursuing investigations when the predication is not there,” Wray said during the Friday ceremony.
“That’s what the rule of law is all about,” he added. “We’ve got to maintain our independence and objectivity, staying above partisanship and politics. Because that’s what the American people expect, and I think that’s what they deserve.”
Wray said in early December last year that he plans to resign from the position before President-elect Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. He was nominated by Trump in 2017, succeeding then-FBI Director James Comey, who the president-elect fired. Wray is leaving the post three years ahead of his formal tenure end date in 2027.
During his time as FBI director, the agency has faced increased scrutiny over its investigations into Trump, particularly with agents raiding Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida residence, in 2022 over keeping documents from his time in the White House.
The bureau has also probed President Biden over classified documents and his son, Hunter Biden, over gun and tax violations that resulted in convictions. The president eventually pardoned his son.
During his Friday address, which was also attended by Department of Justice (DOJ) officials, FBI leaders, intelligence officials and others, Wray thanked his colleagues for “essential” work and highlighted various partnerships the agency strengthened across local, state, tribal and federal law enforcement.
“Our most important asset is our people—all of you. You are what makes the FBI the extraordinary organization it is. For more than 116 years, the American people have seen you rise to the challenge, again and again, to keep our nation safe,” Wray said. “And day after day after day, I’m inspired by the caliber and the character of the men and women in the FBI’s ranks.”
Trump nominated Kash Patel, an ex-DOJ prosecutor who has been critical of the FBI’s past probes into Trump, to be the agency’s next leader.
“What we do here at the FBI is more than a job; it’s a calling. And our work could not be more essential. Is it challenging? Absolutely. But I’ve never once questioned the bureau’s ability to do it because, over my seven plus years as director, I’ve seen the FBI rely steadily on the values, the principles, and the strengths that have long sustained our organization,” he said on Friday. “And they are what enable us to meet those challenges head on—to keep calm and tackle hard.”
