One of Kash Patel’s deputies resigns from the FBI

David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Getty Images/File

Andrew Bailey, a senior FBI official and former Republican politician, told the agency’s workforce early Monday that he is resigning to spend more time with his family, two sources familiar told CNN.

Bailey served as Missouri’s attorney general before being hired by the FBI last year in an unusual move to serve as a newly created “co-deputy” to Director Kash Patel. He was brought on to split the FBI’s deputy director role with since-departed conservative podcaster Dan Bongino during a rift between Bongino and former Attorney General Pam Bondi over the handling of files pertaining to the investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

It was widely speculated within the FBI that Bailey, whose focus at the bureau included election security issues, would eventually be asked to take the reins from Patel — a development that never materialized.

Bongino resigned earlier this year and returned to his podcasting career. He was replaced by a career senior FBI agent, although the “co-deputy director” model that included Bailey continued.

The position of FBI deputy director was historically filled by one career FBI agent who managed the day-to-day operations of the workforce of 38,000 people. It is unclear whether the agency will return to that precedent.

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

FBI picks career agent to replace Dan Bongino as deputy director

In a social media post Monday confirming his departure from the agency, Bailey touted the delivery under his tenure of “historic results in our mission to Make America Safe Again” and said he would return to his family in Missouri.

As CNN previously reported, Bailey was originally under consideration to lead the FBI before Donald Trump’s second inauguration. He interviewed for the job with Trump in 2024 at Mar-a-Lago around the same time as Patel. Ultimately, Trump wasn’t impressed with the Missouri official, CNN reported , and said Bailey did not fit the mold of the legal bulldog the president-elect wanted to helm the FBI.

One source familiar with Bailey’s departure said relations between Patel and Bailey had quickly cooled shortly after his arrival at the agency last year and the two men were not close.

But in the announcement announcing his resignation, Bailey said he was “confident Director Patel will continue to reform the FBI, combat violent crime” and to “defend the homeland.”

Patel responded to Bailey’s announcement on social media by thanking him for his service and for fulfilling the Trump administration’s mandates.

CNN’s Holmes Lybrand contributed to this report.

David Carson/圣路易斯邮报/Getty Images/档案照片

据两名知情人士向 CNN 透露，联邦调查局高级官员、前共和党政客安德鲁·贝利周一早些时候告诉该机构员工，他将辞职以便有更多时间陪伴家人。

贝利曾任密苏里州总检察长，去年被联邦调查局聘用，担任新设立的“副局长”一职，辅佐局长卡什·帕特尔，此举实属罕见。他被任命与已离职的保守派播客主持人丹·邦吉诺共同担任联邦调查局副局长一职。此前，邦吉诺与前任总检察长帕姆·邦迪就已定罪的性犯罪者杰弗里·爱泼斯坦的调查档案处理问题存在分歧。

FBI 内部普遍猜测，Bailey（他在 FBI 的工作重点包括选举安全问题）最终会被要求接替 Patel 的职位——但这种情况从未发生。

邦吉诺今年早些时候辞职，重操旧业，继续他的播客事业。他的职位由一位资深的联邦调查局特工接任，但包括贝利在内的“联合副局长”模式仍然保留了下来。

历史上，联邦调查局副局长一职一直由一名资深联邦调查局特工担任，负责管理38000名员工的日常运作。目前尚不清楚该机构是否会恢复这一惯例。

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

联邦调查局挑选资深特工接替丹·邦吉诺担任副局长

周一，贝利在社交媒体上发帖证实自己将离开该机构，他在帖子中吹嘘自己在任期间取得了“让美国再次安全”的“历史性成果”，并表示他将回到密苏里州与家人团聚。

正如CNN此前报道，在唐纳德·特朗普第二次就职典礼之前，贝利曾是FBI局长的候选人之一。他于2024年在海湖庄园接受了特朗普的面试，时间与帕特尔大致相同。CNN报道称，最终，特朗普对这位来自密苏里州的官员并不满意，并表示贝利不符合他心目中FBI局长应有的强硬法律风格。

一位熟悉贝利离职情况的消息人士称，贝利去年加入该机构后不久，他和帕特尔之间的关系就迅速冷却下来，两人并不亲近。

但在宣布辞职的声明中，贝利表示，他“相信帕特尔局长将继续改革联邦调查局，打击暴力犯罪”，并“保卫国土”。

帕特尔在社交媒体上回应了贝利的声明，感谢他为国家做出的贡献以及履行了特朗普政府的指令。

CNN的霍姆斯·莱布兰德对本报道亦有贡献。