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AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome
to the "News Hour."

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

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announced today that he
intends to leave his position
when president-elect Donald

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Trump takes office in January.
That comes after Mr. Trump
named Kash Patel as his

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nominee to run the FBI,
despite the fact that Trump
was the one who appointed Wray,

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and Wray was serving a
10-year term that wasn't
set to end until 2027.

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

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CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI
Director: My goal is to keep
the focus on our mission,

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on the indispensable work
each of you is doing every
single day. And in my view,

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this is the best way to
avoid dragging the bureau
deeper into the fray,

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while reinforcing the values
and principles that are so
important in how we do our work.

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AMNA NAWAZ: Our White
House correspondent,

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Laura Barron-Lopez,
has been following the
developments and joins us now.

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So, Laura, what else did Chris
Wray say in those remarks,

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and why did he decide to
announce this and step down?

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LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: The
FBI director, Wray, was
faced with two options,

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Amna, either resign or
be faced with firing by
president-elect Donald Trump.

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

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thought. And much of the
FBI's work on that is
far afield from politics,

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and that was something
that the FBI director spoke
about today. This is an
apolitical organization,

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and he talked a lot about
the mission of the bureau
today in his remarks.

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CHRISTOPHER WRAY: Our dedication
to independence and objectivity
and our defense of the rule of

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law, those fundamental
aspects of who we are must
never change. That's the
real strength of the FBI,

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the importance of our
mission, the quality of our
people and their dedication
to service over self.

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LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: The FBI's
dedication to the rule of law,
it being a nonpartisan bureau,

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is a norm that was more
established after the
Watergate scandal, Amna.

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And FBI Director Wray also added
that the FBI is only on the
side of the Constitution and

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that it has to follow the
facts, he said -- quote -- "no
matter who likes it or doesn't."

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AMNA NAWAZ: Laura, take
a step back here for
us and just tell us,

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how unprecedented is this moment
in history and for the FBI?

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

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And, as you noted,
FBI directors are

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confirmed to a 10-year term.
And all FBI directors to
date have been Republicans,

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including Wray. And that 10-year
term is designed to insulate the
director from politicians and to

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maintain the FBI's
independence. It's not
normal for the FBI director
to resign in this fashion

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and not normal for them to
not necessarily - - not normal
for them to be fired either.

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Only two directors have been
fired in the history of the FBI,

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one under President Bill Clinton
and one under Donald Trump,
meaning James Comey in 2017.

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

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What did he say? And also what
should we understand about
his history with the bureau?

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LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ:
President-elect Trump
celebrated, no surprise,

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Wray's resignation and
decision to step down
in a TRUTH Social post.

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And in that post, Trump
said that under Wray's
leadership, the FBI --
quote -- "illegally raided

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my home without cause."
It's false that it was
an illegal search of
Mar-a-Lago, Amna, which was a

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search conducted for
classified documents that
the former president at
the time had at Mar-a-Lago.

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But Trump also said in
the post - - quote --
"We want our FBI back,

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and that will now happen."
I look forward to Kash
Patel's confirmation so
that the process of making

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the FBI great again can
begin." Kash Patel is
the president-elect's
nominee to lead the FBI.

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And Trump appointed Wray
-- in terms of his history,
he appointed Wray after he

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fired James Comey in 2017, angry
that Comey was investigating
Russian interference in

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the 2016 election. And at that
time, Trump said that Wray
was a model of integrity and

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a guardian of the law. But,
since, Trump and Republicans
have soured on the FBI,

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they have called it the deep
state, including Kash Patel,
his nominee to lead the FBI,

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has called it the deep state,
saying he wants to fire multiple
people across the FBI, Amna.

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AMNA NAWAZ: I know, in your
reporting today, you talked to
multiple current and former law

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enforcement officials,
including from the FBI. How are
they responding to all this?

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LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Multiple
former FBI officials

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I talked to said that they're
disappointed but not surprised.

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A number of them said that
they thought that Christopher
Wray should have stayed

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in the role and forced Trump
to fire him, because they
believe that would have more

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maintained the bureau's
independence and shown
that it is not partisan,

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that this is a role that is
separate from the president.

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And a current government law
enforcement official said
the big question remaining is

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what role will politics play
in the FBI now and how they
conduct their investigations,

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with many concerned about
Kash Patel potentially
leading that bureau.

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AMNA NAWAZ: Briefly,
Laura, what happens next?

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LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: What happens
next is that Paul Abbate, who
is currently the deputy director

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at the bureau, very well --
he's next in line to become the
acting director of the bureau.

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That's, of course, though, Amna,
if president-elect Donald Trump

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doesn't decide to fire him and
appoint his own acting director,

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which he has the power to
do. It would have to be
someone that has already been

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Senate-confirmed, but
he could pull them from
anywhere in government.

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AMNA NAWAZ: Laura
Barron-Lopez with the latest.

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Laura, thank you.

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LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Thank you.