In a statement released following reports that Christopher Wray threatened to quit over pressure to oust his senior staff, the FBI director seemed to go out of his way to assure FBI personnel that Rybicki was not being pushed out. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo FBI Director Wray replaces 2 top aides

FBI Director Christopher Wray said Tuesday he would replace chief of staff James Rybicki, who was involved in actions by Wray's predecessor that have drawn sharp criticism from President Donald Trump and congressional investigators.

Rybicki will be succeeded by Zachary Harmon, who was a colleague of Wray at law firm King & Spalding and is best known for his work as a prosecutor on the high-profile Enron case.


In addition, an official said Wray has selected Dana Boente, an Obama-appointed U.S. attorney who served for a time as Trump's acting attorney general last year, to serve as the FBI's new general counsel.

In a statement released following reports that Wray threatened to quit over pressure to oust his senior staff, the FBI director seemed to go out of his way to assure FBI personnel that Rybicki was not being pushed out.

"Jim Rybicki notified me last month that he will be leaving the FBI to accept an opportunity in the corporate sector. While this is an exciting move for the whole Rybicki family, Jim will be dearly missed by the FBI family — and by me personally," Wray said. "His many years of dedication to the Bureau and DOJ, his level-headed judgement and earnest professionalism, and his steady good cheer have been an asset to us all and have contributed greatly to the safety and security of our nation."

Last week, Rybicki was on Capitol Hill answering questions from House Oversight Committee and Judiciary Committee members about his role on matters such as the Clinton email investigation and former FBI Director James Comey's claims that Trump asked him for a loyalty pledge before firing him.

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Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas), a former U.S. attorney who was one of the lead GOP questioners during Rybicki's interview, said he didn't believe anything that arose during the interview precipitated Rybicki's departure.

"I found him to be a very cooperative and candid witness to the best of his ability. It was a very cordial interview," Ratcliffe said. "I found him to be cooperative. The last thing he said to Chairman Gowdy and myself, who were the two members doing the questioning, was, 'I very much appreciate how fairly I was treated.'"

A Democrat who was in the room, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, said in an interview last week that he couldn't discuss the substance of Rybicki's testimony but recalled "testy" moments. He said he was worried that similar grillings could put "a chill" on current investigations.

"You have all these FBI agents who have done nothing wrong, who are some of the finest people your will ever meet into a committee with 20 lawyers, members of congress sitting all around them. What’s the message that sends?" he said. "This person, Rybicki, is not alleged to have done anything wrong and he was brought in and it became a testy atmosphere."

Boente will replace James Baker, who was also involved in many of Comey's deliberations on issues related to the Clinton email probe and the investigation into Russian involvement in the presidential campaign. Baker accompanied Deputy Director Andrew McCabe to his interview with the House Intelligence Committee. Earlier this month, committee chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) said in a letter that the Justice Department had agreed to make Baker available for an interview.

Baker indicated in December that he planned to leave the general counsel job for another post in government.

Boente was serving as the Obama-appointed U.S. Attorney in Alexandria, Va., when he was abruptly promoted to run the Justice Department after acting Attorney General Sally Yates refused to defend Trump's travel ban executive order. Attorney General Jeff Sessions later tapped Boente to serve on an acting basis as deputy attorney general and as head of DOJ's national security division.

Boente caught many Justice Department veterans by surprise in October when he announced he planned to resign his U.S. attorney post once a successor was confirmed. Some associates said they had expected him to remain in the U.S. attorney job indefinitely.

An FBI spokesperson had no immediate comment on Boente's appointment, which was first reported by the Washington Post.

Rybicki, a former Capitol Police officer, has a law degree and worked beginning in 2001 in several senior Justice Department positions, including as acting assistant attorney general for national security.

Wray's statement said he worked with Harmon in the Justice Department and at King and Spalding. It also noted he worked on a pair of independent commissions reviewing FBI procedures, including one that looked into failings surrounding the case of FBI agent and Russian spy Robert Hanssen.

