Trump says Wray resignation 'great day for America,' touts Kash Patel as 'most qualified' to lead FBI

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FBI Director Christopher Wray resigns

Fox News correspondent David Spunt has the latest on the resignation ahead of President-elect Donald Trump taking office on 'America Reports.'

FIRST ON FOX: President-elect Trump said FBI Director Christopher Wray's resignation is a "great day for America," telling Fox News Digital it "will end the weaponization" of the bureau, while touting his nominee Kash Patel as the "most qualified" to lead the FBI. 

Wray announced Wednesday afternoon his plans to resign in January. 

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"The resignation of Christopher Wray is a great day for America as it will end the weaponization of what has become known as the United States Department of Injustice," Trump told Fox News Digital. "I just don’t know what happened to him." 

Trump said his administration "will now restore the rule of law for all Americans." 

"Under the leadership of Christopher Wray, the FBI illegally raided my home, without cause, worked diligently on illegally impeaching and indicting me, and has done everything else to interfere with the success and future of America," Trump told Fox News Digital. "They have used their vast powers to threaten and destroy many innocent Americans, some of which will never be able to recover from what has been done to them." 

"Under the leadership of Christopher Wray, the FBI illegally raided my home, without cause, worked diligently on illegally impeaching and indicting me, and has done everything else to interfere with the success and future of America," President-elect Trump told Fox News Digital.  (Getty Images)

The president-elect looked ahead to his nominee to lead the bureau, Kash Patel. 

"Kash Patel is the most qualified nominee to lead the FBI in the Agency’s History, and is committed to helping ensure that Law, Order, and Justice will be brought back to our Country again, and soon," Trump said. "As everyone knows, I have great respect for the rank-and-file of the FBI, and they have great respect for me. They want to see these changes every bit as much as I do but, more importantly, the American People are demanding a strong, but fair, system of justice." 

"Kash Patel is the most qualified nominee to lead the FBI in the Agency’s History, and is committed to helping ensure that Law, Order, and Justice will be brought back to our Country again, and soon," Trump said. (Getty Images)

"We want our FBI back, and that will now happen," he continued. "I look forward to Kash Patel’s confirmation, so that the process of Making the FBI Great Again can begin." 

During a town hall on Wednesday, Wray announced his plans to resign next month. 

"After weeks of careful thought, I’ve decided the right thing for the bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current administration in January and then step down," Wray said during the town hall. "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."

The FBI director said the decision was not easy for him, adding he loves the FBI, its mission and people.

Wray is seven years into his 10-year term. 

Trump appointed Wray in 2017 after he fired former FBI Director James Comey from the post. 

Trump nominated Patel to serve as FBI director earlier this month, giving Wray the option to leave on his own or be fired.

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While Wray’s last day is still undecided, it is expected to be before Trump’s inauguration.

The moment Wray leaves, Deputy Director Paul Abbate will become acting director until the new director is in place. Abbate is a career official who is eligible to retire from the bureau soon. He planned months ago to retire in the new year. 

Meanwhile, Patel has been meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week and has received a warm reception. 

Patel's experience ranges from personally carrying out dangerous missions in the Middle East in an effort to bring home U.S. hostages to implementing counterterrorism strategies against America’s most-wanted terrorists. 

Current and former U.S. national security officials and lawmakers say that when looking at his résumé "objectively," he is "one of the most experienced people ever to be nominated" to lead the bureau. 

FBI DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER WRAY ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION

During the first Trump administration, Patel served as a deputy assistant to Trump and as senior director for counterterrorism. In that role, Patel was involved in presidential missions aimed at decimating al Qaeda senior leadership and ISIS command and control. Patel was involved in the planning of the mission to take out Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, among others. 

Patel also was involved in efforts to bring some of the most-wanted terrorists to the U.S. for prosecution, and worked on Trump administration efforts to return dozens of U.S. hostages back home.

Beyond his counterterrorism work, Patel was heavily involved in U.S. strategy to counter Chinese, Russian, Iranian and North Korean efforts against U.S. interests. He also worked on the implementation of multimillion-dollar sanctions against foreign adversaries. 

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Prior to working as a deputy to Trump and in the National Security Council, Patel worked in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) as the principal deputy to the acting DNI Ric Grenell and helped former Director John Ratcliffe transition into the role. Trump nominated Ratcliffe last month to serve as the director of the CIA.  

At ODNI, Patel also worked to focus intelligence collection against counter narcotic and transnational threats.