Christopher A. Wray

 Resignation Address at an FBI Employee-Wide Town Hall

delivered 11 November 2024

[As Prepared for Delivery]

Good afternoon, everybody, and welcome. Thanks for joining us today -- whether you’re with us in person here at Headquarters, or tuning in from across the country in SVTC [Secure Video Teleconferencing] land.

I know we’re getting close to the end of the year, and the holiday season is almost upon us, so as I previewed for the SACs and our leadership team here at Headquarters last week, we decided to go ahead and move this up to make it a little easier for folks. But I thought it was important to keep up our recent tradition of coming together for an FBI-wide town hall, especially this year.

There’s no question 2025 is going to be a year of change -- and not just for the FBI, but for the country more broadly. And I want to spend most of our time today talking about the crucial role the Bureau will continue to play -- and must continue to play -- next year and well into the future.

Some change is, of course, inevitable. But there are certain things that must never change, because they’re so fundamental to what we do and who we are -- things like the importance of our mission, the quality and dedication of our people, our commitment to our core values, and the rule of law.

But before we delve into that, I want to address a topic that’s been the subject of a lot of speculation, and that’s my future as FBI Director. Since the moment I started in this job seven-plus years ago, my focus has been on trying to do what I think is best for our institution -- for the Bureau, and ultimately, for the American people we serve, and what sets us up best for success -- not just today, but in the long run. So 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.

My goal is to keep the focus on our mission -- the indispensable work you’re doing on behalf of the American people every day. And 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.

It should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: This is not easy for me. I love this place. I love our mission. And I love our people. But my focus is, and always has been, on us and doing what’s right for the FBI. And it was important to me that you all got to hear about my decision directly from me, before it gets announced publicly.

I’m honored and humbled to serve alongside you. And doing it all these years has been the greatest privilege of my life.

For me, it’s always been about the people -- all of you, the partners we do the work with, and the American people, the ones we do the work for. From the beginning, when I was deciding whether it was the right choice for my family for me to take this job, it was my admiration and respect for the career professionals who make up the FBI that brought me back. And every day I’ve been in this role, my deep admiration and respect for all of you has grown more and more.

No one gets to see the Bureau and the work you’re doing across this country and around the world like I do. And what I’ve seen is nothing short of inspiring. And I’m not the kind of guy who uses words like “inspiring” lightly.

I’ve seen up close the sacrifices you make each and every day to fulfill our mission and keep our fellow citizens safe. I’ve seen you turn in absolutely heroic acts of bravery, over and over again, to help people you’ve never met. And I’ve seen you show up for each other with compassion and support when your FBI Family members need you most.

You put everything you’ve got into your work, and I could not be more proud of what you’ve accomplished.

Over the past seven-plus years, you’ve worked alongside our partners in state and local law enforcement in record numbers to keep our communities safe, taking something like 50 violent criminals -- the worst of the worst -- off the street per day, every day.

You’ve innovated and found new ways to combat the cyber threat, kicking off adversaries pre- positioned to wreak havoc on our critical infrastructure and defending against ransomware attacks on targets like 9-1-1 call centers, children’s hospitals, and water treatment plants.

You’ve worked tirelessly to stem the flow of deadly drugs like fentanyl pouring into every corner of the country, seizing enough fentanyl in just two years to kill 270 million people -- that’s more than 80 percent of all Americans.

You’ve remained steadfast in your dedication to protecting children from harm, arresting hundreds of predators and rescuing hundreds of kids each and every year.

And you’ve kept watch against the ever-present threat of terrorism, thwarting attacks on a busy pier [39] in San Francisco, a crowded hospital outside Kansas City during COVID, a Fourth of July parade in downtown Cleveland -- to name just a few -- and, just two months ago, disrupting a mass casualty plot in Oklahoma City set for Election Day.

As the threats have grown, you’ve grown, you’ve adapted, and you’ve evolved, because you’ve had to, because that’s what was required to keep Americans safe. And an awful lot of people are alive today because of your tireless efforts.

All that great work shows not just how much you’ve accomplished, but how much the threats have grown. And based on what we’re seeing now, those threats are only going to continue to grow in the years ahead.

On the terrorism front, the withdrawal from Afghanistan, a deteriorating security situation in parts of Africa, the war in the Middle East, and now a collapse in power in Syria -- those events oceans away will continue to have very real consequences here, on our Homeland security, well into the future. To coin a familiar phrase, “Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear.”¹

With fentanyl, every time we turn around there’s a new analogue or an even more deadly substance on the way with potentially devastating effects.

Or crimes against children, where the dark web provides more and more places for monsters to conceal their heinous abuse.

And with China, an adversary that’s been pretty clear about its intentions to lie, cheat, and steal its way to economic and geopolitical domination in the coming years. In fact, we’re on the cusp of what may turn out to be the PRC’s broadest, most significant cyber espionage campaign in history with the telecommunications breach known as Salt Typhoon.²

Add to all that the fact that advances in technology are expanding the attack surface and making it easier for the bad guys to cover their tracks. Think terrorists using drones, hackers moving money with cryptocurrency, and criminals of all stripes leveraging AI [Artificial Intelligence] to up their game. As daunting as all that may sound, I’ve got enormous confidence in you and your ability to continue to meet the threats coming over the horizon. The most sacred responsibility of government is -- and will remain -- protecting its citizens.

You all are on the front lines of that effort every day, and I know you will continue to adapt and evolve and innovate to stay ahead.

Because when you look at where the threats are headed, it’s clear that the importance of our work -- keeping Americans safe and upholding the Constitution -- will not change. And what absolutely cannot -- must not -- change is our commitment to doing the right thing, the right way, every time.

Our adherence to our core values, our dedication to independence and objectivity, and our defense of the rule of law -- those fundamental aspects of who we are must never change. And I don’t just mean our commitment to the right thing, the right way as an organization.

That’s essential, yes. But we also have to be committed to the right thing, the right way as individuals, too. That’s the integrity piece. Because if we all do that, and we all back each other up in doing that, there won’t be room for anything else.

The FBI, as you all know better than anyone, is a hard ship to turn. The force of who we are together -- of who you are, together -- that’s what makes us so strong. You’re 38,000 men and women dedicated to protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution. That’s pretty profound. It’s a mission that’s not easy to actually execute, and frankly, our work will never be done. But it’s noble work, and you chose it. And the person next to you chose it, and the person next to them.

Nobody joined the FBI because they didn’t have any other options. Every one of us first chose, and then earned, the right to be here. And that choice we all made and earned means that all over the world, there are 38,000 men and women who get up every day and dedicate themselves to the FBI’s mission. And that shared commitment binds us together.

One of the great strengths of the FBI is that we’re a team, separated by states and oceans and time zones, but still working together to support the FBI’s mission. Put another way, what’s one of the best things everybody in the FBI has going for them? It’s everybody else in the FBI. And there’s not any one person -- not you, not me, not the person to your right or to your left -- who all of this rises or falls on.

Now, don’t misunderstand me. As I like to remind our agents, you’re all special. But none of us -- let me say that again, none of us -- is the one person holding this place together. It’s all of us, working together, that have made the FBI the premier law enforcement and intelligence agency in the world -- the people our partners are vying to send their officers and deputies to train with, the people businesses call when their networks have been compromised or their operations have been taken offline, the people the American people turn to when their child is in danger.

That didn’t happen overnight. Our brand as the people who will get things done -- the professionals, who will do the right thing, the right way -- that took time. That’s not to say we haven’t made mistakes in 116 years, but we’ve learned from them and always found a way through it. And I’m confident we will for the next 116 years, too.

Because if we stick together and stick to our core values -- as individuals committed to doing the right thing, the right way -- then as a team we’ll be doing that at scale. And ultimately, we’ll be just fine. Our great strength is each other -- that we’re all committed to the same mission, and to accomplishing it the same way -- the right way, every time. That’s what the rule of law is all about.

Unfortunately, all too often in today’s world, people’s standard for whether something was fair or objective -- a Supreme Court decision, a verdict in a high-profile case, the investigation we brought, or the one we didn’t bring -- is whether they liked the result, whether their side won or lost. But that’s not how independence and objectivity work. We’re not on any one side. We’re on the American people’s side -- the Constitution’s side. And no matter what’s happening out there, in here we’ve got to stay committed to doing our work the right way every time -- with rigor and integrity.

That means following the facts wherever they lead, no matter who likes it, or doesn’t -- because there’s always someone who doesn’t like it. It means conducting investigations without fear or favor. And it means not pursuing investigations when the predication is not there.

Now let me be clear: We’re accountable to the American people, and we welcome the tough questions. But in terms of how we do the work, we’ve got to maintain our independence and objectivity -- staying above partisanship and politics. That’s what the American people expect of us, and that’s what they deserve. Over more than 116 years, we’ve stopped terrorists, spies, and hackers, and put countless criminals behind bars. And the FBI has often stood for the very best of America, not just because of our successes, but because of the way we’ve accomplished them over the years.

As I tell all our new graduates at Quantico, being part of this organization carries with it a solemn responsibility -- to do our jobs well, yes, but more importantly, to do our jobs with honesty and integrity. For decades, the men and women of the FBI have been laying that foundation, earning that trust and building that legacy for the Bureau. And we’re going to keep doing that -- we must keep doing that -- abiding by the rule of law and adhering to our core values.

There’s no room for compromise on that.

Those are our guiding principles -- our anchors. And we’ve got to adhere to them, no matter the test. That’s a commitment that as the FBI, we’ve got to keep making to the American people.

In October 2017, I gave the commencement address to my first class of new agents at Quantico -- class 17-03. Just last week, I spoke to the graduates of class 24-05. And I haven’t missed a single ceremony in between. That means over the course of seven-plus years and 39 graduations, I’ve had the privilege of giving more than 57-hundred special agents -- over 40 percent of the agents on the job today -- their badges and credentials.

And in the last seven-plus years, I’ve watched those agents -- with the indispensable men and women who make up our intel cadre and professional staff right alongside them -- go out and do exceptional things.

Every day, all over this country and all around the world, someone in the FBI -- oftentimes more than one person -- is out there doing something extraordinary. Sometimes those things make big news. Sometimes they’re known only to a select few. But every day, I’m inspired by the work you do. I’m inspired by the breadth, depth, and impact of it -- by the way you do it, and by who you are.

In the last seven-plus years, I’ve visited every single one of our 55 field offices twice, and I’m halfway through my third round.

I’ve met with all of our Headquarters divisions and been to about thirty of our legal attaché offices, from Cairo to Warsaw to Mexico City to Tokyo.

I’ve talked with scores of senior agents who are just as excited about the FBI as they were the day they joined 20-plus years ago.

I’ve talked to new employees who feel like they’ve been shot out of a cannon, ready to take on the world, and to do it on behalf of the American people.

And I’ve talked to hundreds and hundreds of folks in between -- people who still can’t believe that they get to be here, doing this, working with the extraordinary people next to them. And they can’t wait to keep doing it for another 10, 15, 20 years.

That’s the real strength of the FBI -- the importance of our mission, the quality of our people, and their dedication to service over self. It’s an unshakeable foundation that’s stood the test of time, and cannot be easily moved. And it -- you, the men and women of the FBI -- are why the Bureau will endure and remain successful long into the future.

For me, what’s made these last seven-plus years so rewarding is you -- getting to know, and work with, all of you. It’s been the privilege of standing with you as you accomplish great things for the American people -- of experiencing you discover something new, and listening to you talk about the communities you serve.

I’m confident you’re just as inspired by this organization -- by each other -- as I am, and just as honored to be a part of it: to be a part of the FBI’s legacy of fidelity, bravery, integrity, and heart.

I’ll go ahead and close the same way I do for our new graduates at Quantico, by telling you there’s still a hell of an adventure ahead. I’m not usually quite that colorful with the graduates, but I think they get the message.

As with any career, there will continue to be good days, and tough days -- days when you’re really tested to your limits. So on those days, remember that -- as part of the FBI -- you don’t have an ordinary job; you have a calling.

Remember that you chose, and earned, this job. You chose, and earned, the privilege of serving your country. The FBI needs you. The American people need you. So thank you for making that choice. Thank you for earning that privilege.

I’m so grateful you’re part of the FBI Family, and I want to thank you for making me a part of that family. And as we move into our next chapter, let’s stay focused -- heads up, eyes forward, shoulder to shoulder.

Be safe out there, and take care of each other.

¹ Somewhat common misuse of the term "coin" in this context

² More strictly, Salt Typhoon is a Microsoft-designated moniker for a cadre of Chinese Government-sponsored cyberhackers.

Original Text Source: FBI.gov

Page Created: 12/15/24

U.S. Copyright Status: Text = Public domain.