Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Delivers Remarks at FBI Director Christopher Wray’s Farewell Event
Remarks as Prepared for Delivery
Good afternoon.
It is my honor to join you in recognizing Director Wray’s outstanding public service.
As all of you know, before joining the FBI, the Director had already had a distinguished career in public service.
He clerked for an eminent federal judge, served as a career Assistant U.S. Attorney in Atlanta, headed the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and — my personal favorite because it is on my resume as well — served as the Department’s Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General.
After that already extraordinary career, he returned to his home in Georgia. He had certainly earned the right to stay there and never come back.
His life could have been a relaxing stream of practicing Big Law, tailgating at Bulldogs games, watching his beloved New York Giants on television, and — most important — walking his dog without a protection detail.
But Chris Wray is public spirited to the core. So, no one was surprised when, in 2017, he once again answered the call – this time, to fill one of the most critical and difficult roles in all of government.
I often say it is no coincidence that so many of the people in leadership positions across the Justice Department are here on their second, third, fourth, or fifth tour of duty.
All of us recognize what a privilege it is to have a job in which doing the right thing is your only purpose.
All of us have something within us that draws us to this work.
For the extraordinary public servants of the FBI — that “something” is fidelity, bravery, and integrity.
Over the course of my career, I have worked side by side with scores of FBI agents and analysts who exhibited those sacred qualities.
For the last four years, I have been privileged to work with Director Wray. And to see him exhibit those same qualities.
Indeed, for the last four years, I have begun most of my mornings in an All Threats Briefing with the Director, other senior FBI and DOJ officials, and a representative of the Intelligence Community.
As morning rituals go, it is not the most relaxing. The foreign and domestic threats that are the subject of those meetings are the stuff of nightmares.
Nonetheless, that meeting has been the best part of my day. Our only purpose, and the only purpose of the Director and his FBI team, is to assess the threats, determine how best to disrupt them, and then allocate the resources necessary to do so.
No turf fighting, no politics, no agenda other than to protect the American people. If the American people could witness those meetings, they would be so proud of what they saw.
I have also seen Chris Wray stand up for, and champion, the FBI’s 38,000 employees.
I have seen him have the backs of special agents who routinely risk their lives in the line of duty, but who have been singled out and threatened for simply doing their jobs.
I have seen his leadership in the White House Situation Room and within the United States Intelligence Community, where he is renowned for his honesty, integrity, and dedication to the FBI’s mission.
I have seen him earn the respect of foreign leaders and strengthen our relationships with law enforcement partners around the world.
I saw his leadership on January 1st when the country woke up to a horrific terrorist attack in New Orleans, and when FBI agents rushed to the scene to support local law enforcement and begin their investigation.
And I saw his leadership again, hours later, when the FBI responded to a truck explosion in Las Vegas.
That was just one day — but it represents the work that the Director Wray and the courageous public servants of the FBI do every day to protect the safety of the American people.
And as I have traveled the country, visiting law enforcement in almost every state, I have seen that Director Wray’s leadership speaks for itself.
Everywhere I have gone, I have heard state and local law enforcement leaders praise their respective FBI field offices for their partnership.
Those partnerships matter. They matter for driving down violent crime. They matter for disrupting foreign and domestic threats. They matter for keeping our country safe.
That kind of collaboration does not just happen on its own.
It happens because the FBI has a leader like Chris Wray who, everywhere he goes, emphasizes the importance of partnership and cooperation for the advancement of the FBI’s mission.
There are few leadership positions more central to keeping the American people safe than the Director of the FBI.
The Director is responsible for advancing the FBI’s mission to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States.
The Director is responsible for leading the Bureau’s 38,000 employees, across the country and around the world, as they disrupt complex plots and prevent crises before they occur.
The Director is responsible for ensuring that the Bureau fills its essential purpose as the connective tissue between the intelligence community, state and local law enforcement agencies, and our international law enforcement partners.
And the FBI Director is responsible for protecting the independence of the FBI from inappropriate influence in its investigations.
That independence is central to preserving the rule of law and to protecting the freedoms we as Americans hold dear.
Through every high-profile investigation, every risky operation, and every difficult decision, Director Wray has fulfilled those responsibilities with integrity and skill.
Director Wray, throughout your long and distinguished career in public service, you have advanced the Justice Department’s central responsibility to uphold the rule of law.
You have made certain that we treat like cases alike.
You have ensured there is not one rule for the powerful and another rule for the powerless, one rule for friends and another for foes.
You have ensured that we have only one rule: to follow the facts and apply the law in a way that respects the Constitution and protects civil liberties.
Our country owes you a debt of gratitude.
We also owe a debt of gratitude to Director Wray’s family.
You were a constant source of strength and support. When our country needed Director Wray, you made it possible for him to answer the call. Thank you so much.
Director Wray, thank you on behalf of the FBI agents and employees whose respect and admiration you have more than earned.
Thank you on behalf of the entire Department of Justice, whose mission to uphold the rule of law, to keep our country safe, and to protect civil rights you have so greatly advanced.
And thank you on behalf of the American people, whom you have served so honorably.
Director Wray, in recognition of your outstanding service to the Justice Department, I am pleased to give you highest award I can bestow — the Edmund J. Randolph Award, named for the first Attorney General of the United States.
The inscription reads:
Edmund J. Randolph Award
Presented to
The Honorable Christopher Wray
FBI Director
U.S. Department of Justice
In recognition of your outstanding service to the U.S. Department of Justice and the Nation
January 2025, Washington, D.C. Merrick Garland, Attorney General.
Thank you.
Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
Source: Justice.gov
