One of Kash Patel’s deputies resigns from the FBI

Andrew Bailey, one of two co-deputy directors at the FBI, is leaving the bureau. He told employees early Monday that he is stepping down to spend more time with his family, according to two sources who spoke with CNN. Bailey, a Republican who previously served as Missouri's attorney general, was brought aboard last year in a job created for him under FBI Director Kash Patel, where his work included election security, according to CNN · Daily Caller.

The arrangement was set up to divide the deputy director's duties with conservative podcaster Dan Bongino, amid a dispute between Bongino and then-Attorney General Pam Bondi over how the Jeffrey Epstein files were handled. Bongino has since gone back to podcasting, and a career senior agent took his seat, though the shared-leadership structure stayed in place. Historically, a single career agent held the post and ran daily operations for the bureau's 38,000 employees. Whether that tradition returns is unclear.

In his own public announcement, Bailey cited what he described as historic results in making America safe and said he was going back to Missouri. He voiced confidence that Patel would keep reforming the bureau. Patel thanked him for his service. One source told CNN the two men were never close and their relationship cooled soon after Bailey arrived. CNN also reported that Bailey had interviewed with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in 2024 for the top FBI job, but Trump was not impressed and felt he lacked the toughness he wanted.

Summarized by PolitiKool from CNN · Daily Caller’s reporting. Read the full story at CNN · Daily Caller →