Veteran agent named as acting FBI director pending Senate confirmation of Trump's pick for post

Source: AP

Updated 5:43 PM EST, January 20, 2025


WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Monday named a veteran agent to serve as acting FBI director after the official who’d been expected to run the bureau on an interim basis following the departure of Christopher Wray retired after nearly 30 years.

Brian Driscoll was tapped to lead the FBI pending the Senate confirmation of Kash Patel, who is President Donald Trump’s pick for director. The move came hours after Paul Abbate, who served for the last four years as Wray’s deputy and had been in line to serve as acting director, told colleagues in an email that he was retiring.

“When the Director asked me to stay on past my mandatory date for a brief time, I did so to help ensure continuity and the best transition for the FBI. Now, with new leadership inbound, after nearly four years in the deputy role, I am departing the FBI today,” Abbate wrote in the email, which was obtained by The Associated Press.

Abbate’s abrupt departure after a 28-year FBI career creates additional transition for a law enforcement agency that had already been preparing for upheaval in the event Patel is confirmed. A Trump loyalist, Patel has repeatedly criticized FBI leadership and decision-making and has alarmed Democrats with statements that suggest he would be willing to use the FBI to exact retribution on Trump adversaries.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/trump-fbi-e2013df7ee230573ad695d88fd0838ce