BURSTFormer FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said Wednesday he disagrees with FBI Director Christopher Wray’s decision to step down from his post at the end of President Biden’s term and thinks he should have stayed and let President-elect Trump fire him.
In an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, McCabe said staying at the FBI would have been the best way for Wray to defend its independence.
"I think Director Wray did an honorable job of leading the FBI through some very tough times, and I’m sure he has his own reasons for going in the way that he announced today,” McCabe told Collins. “But I believe very strongly that the principle of FBI independence is worth defending.”
“And in this moment, the way to best defend that principle — this post-Watergate reform that has been the core of the FBI for the last 50 years, the FBI that the American people rely upon, the FBI that‘s independent from politics — the best way to defend that principle would be to remain in his position and force the president to fire him,” McCabe said.
Wray announced Wednesday his plans to resign from the agency at the end of the Biden administration in January. Trump recently said he intends to tap Kash Patel to lead the FBI, signifying his plans to replace Wray as the bureau’s director.
Wray, whom Trump initially tapped to lead the FBI in 2017, would not otherwise finish his term until 2027.
“My goal is to keep the focus on our mission — the indispensable work you’re doing on behalf of the American people every day. 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 to how we do our work,” Wray said at a town hall Wednesday, announcing his decision.