FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate retired from his post minutes after President Trump was sworn into office.
Mr. Abbate, who was a key member of the leadership team that critics say politicized FBI culture and investigations, quit as Mr. Trump vowed in his inaugural speech to end the “weaponization” of the Justice Department.
The FBI confirmed Mr. Abbate’s retirement.
The FBI has been dogged for years by complaints of mismanagement and politically biased investigations, starting with the now-discredited probe into Trump-Russia collusion in the 2016 presidential election.
Over the last four years, Mr. Abbate and former FBI Director Christopher B. Wray have been scrutinized for the FBI’s investigations related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, the targeting of the Catholic Church, the raid on Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and the pursuit of pro-life activists who protested at abortion clinics.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, last month sent a scathing letter to Mr. Wray and Mr. Abbate saying both men should be ousted.
“For the good of the country, it’s time for you and your deputy to move on to the next chapter in your lives,” Mr. Grassley wrote. “I therefore must express my vote of no confidence in your continued leadership of the FBI.”
Mr. Abbate served for four years under Mr. Wray, who was appointed by Mr. Trump during his first term. Mr. Wray chose to resign at the end of President Biden’s term, two years before his 7-year term at the FBI expired.
Mr. Trump tapped Kash Patel, a former Defense Department and National Security Council aide, to be the next FBI director and shake up the agency.
Under Mr. Wray and Mr. Abbate, droves of FBI whistleblowers have come forward claiming agents with conservative or pro-Trump views were being purged from the bureau.
The Washington Times reported in June 2023 that an FBI whistleblower told Congress that Mr. Abbate threatened to fire agents and other bureau employees who said there were disparities in the responses to the U.S. Capitol riot in 2021 and the George Floyd riots in 2020.
The FBI worker, whose name is protected by Congress, said Mr. Abbate made the threats during a secured video teleconference with the special agents in charge of the bureau’s 56 field offices. Mr. Abbate told these supervisors that some agents were questioning the massive investigative response to pro-Trump demonstrators storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“Abbate told the audience that anyone who questions the FBI’s response or his decisions regarding the response to Jan. 6 did not belong in the FBI and should find a different job — or something to that effect,” according to the affidavit.
“Throughout his 27-plus year career, FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate has strongly supported the people and the work of the FBI, treating employees with dignity, compassion, and respect,” the FBI said.
Another bureau whistleblower told Congress in July 2023 that Mr. Abbate did not want bureau employees to reveal that at least 25 FBI confidential human sources or informants were at the Capitol riot in which a pro-Trump mob attempted to stop the certification of Mr. Biden’s election win.
According to the whistleblower’s disclosure, Mr. Abbate believed that publicly acknowledging their existence there at that time would be too problematic or embarrassing for the FBI. The Justice Department inspector general recently confirmed that FBI confidential informants were in the crowd at the Capitol riot and some of them entered the Capitol.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.