Paul Abbate, who as the FBI’s longtime deputy director had been expected to replace Director Christopher Wray on an acting basis, is retiring, reports the Associated Press. Abbate had been expected to run the FBI during Senate confirmation proceedings for Kash Patel, President Trump’s choice for director. It was not immediately clear who would fill that role. Abbate said that "with new leadership inbound, after nearly four years in the deputy role, I am departing the FBI today,” Abbate wrote. Abbate’s abrupt departure after 28 years with the FBI creates additional tumult for an agency that had already been preparing for upheaval if Patel is confirmed. A Trump loyalist, Patel has repeatedly criticized FBI leadership and decision-making and has alarmed Democrats with statements suggesting that he would be willing to use the FBI to exact retribution on Trump adversaries.
Abbate held a variety of positions at the FBI, including head of the bureau’s Detroit and Washington, D.C., field offices and executive assistant director for the criminal, cyber, response and services branch. He was named deputy director, the No. 2 position responsible for the FBI’s investigative activities, in 2018. Wray was named by Trump during his first term and had been director for more than seven years. Wray announced his retirement last month, more than a week after Trump said he wanted Patel to be the director.
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