Kash Patel’s Right-Hand Man Leaves FBI

FBI Co-Deputy Director Andrew Bailey announced Monday that he is stepping down from his role after one year on the job.

Bailey, who served as Missouri’s Republican attorney general from Jan. 2023 to Sept. 2025 — before joining the Bureau — said in an X post that he is resigning to spend more time with his family.

“I want to thank President [Donald] Trump, @AGToddBlanche, and @FBIDirectorKash for the opportunity to serve in the FBI,” Bailey, a father of four, wrote in the social media post. “Under President Trump’s leadership, we have delivered historic results in our mission to Make America Safe Again. With great pride in what we have accomplished, I am announcing that I am stepping down to return to my family in Missouri.”

“I am confident [FBI Director Kash] Patel will continue to reform the FBI, combat violent crime, defend the homeland, ensure strong organizational accountability, and restore public trust in this institution of excellence,” the post continued.

The FBI did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

“I want to thank Andrew Bailey for his dedicated service to return the FBI to its core mission and fulfill President Trump’s promise to make America safe again,” Patel wrote in a Monday X post. “Although Andrew is leaving the FBI in order to return to his family in Missouri, his fantastic contribution instituting critical reforms which resulted in our historic success will live on.”

“Andrew’s leadership at the FBI will be missed but we are grateful he answered the call to serve! Thanks Andrew for your tremendous dedication to the mission of this FBI,” Patel added.

Bailey’s resignation will take effect on Oct. 2, two anonymous sources familiar told Bloomberg Law.

Patel and Bailey did not get along well and sometimes went long periods without talking to one another, multiple anonymous sources told The New York Times.

Conservative podcast host Dan Bongino notably served as deputy director of the FBI from March 2025 until his departure from the role in January, overlapping with Bailey’s tenure for three and a half months. Bongino was succeeded in his role by FBI Co-Deputy Director Christopher Raia.

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