U.S.: FBI Deputy Director Andrew Bailey resigns

WASHINGTON, September 29 /ATSH-DPA/ — Andrew Bailey, deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), announced his resignation yesterday amid reports of tensions with the agency’s director, Kash Patel.

“With great pride in what we have accomplished, I am announcing that I am stepping back to return to my family in Missouri,” Bailey wrote on the X platform.

Before joining the FBI, Bailey had served as attorney general of the state of Missouri.

“I am confident Director Patel will continue to reform the FBI, fight violent crime, protect the country, ensure strong organizational accountability and restore the public’s trust in this outstanding institution,” Bailey added.

Under Donald Trump’s presidency, the FBI deputy director role was unusually split between two people.

Initially, Bailey shared the post with deputy director Dan Bongino, a loyal Trump supporter prone to conspiracy theories, whom critics said was unqualified for the job.

After Bongino announced his resignation late last year, Christopher Raia took the vacant post.

Before Bailey’s resignation, several American media outlets had reported on the deputy’s tense relationship with Patel, who has radically changed the agency’s senior leadership since taking office.

According to CBS, Patel, also a loyal Trump supporter, excluded Bailey from meetings he was supposed to attend after Bailey had repeatedly criticized FBI practices as unconstitutional.

American media also reported that Bailey was brought into the agency as a possible successor to Patel, amid ongoing speculation that the FBI director could lose his post.