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FBI co-deputy director Andrew Bailey steps down amid agency shake-up

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Cite

Baio, A. (2026, September 28). FBI co-deputy director Andrew Bailey steps down amid agency shake-up. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/28/fbi-co-deputy-director-steps-down

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Guardian · collected 2026-09-28 · by Ariana Baio

Quick Summary

Andrew Bailey, a deputy director of the FBI who has been overseeing investigations related to former President Donald Trump's election activities, announced his resignation via X (formerly Twitter) amid an ongoing shake-up at the bureau. Bailey took up the position in September 2025 and had been working alongside Christopher Raia since January of this year when Dan Bongino left the FBI. His departure comes as part of broader changes under Director Kash Patel, who has seen numerous career agents leave due to perceived political bias or concerns about retribution for following orders they disagree with.
Written by AI on 2026-09-28, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Andrew Bailey, a co-deputy director of the FBI and former Missouri attorney general, announced his resignation after just over one year at the bureau. He cited the desire to return to his family in Missouri as the reason for leaving. Bailey joined the FBI under President Donald Trump and Attorney General Todd Blanche, supporting then-FBI Director Kash Patel. In his role, he oversaw investigations related to the 2020 U.S. election integrity. His departure comes amid concerns about politicization within the bureau and questions around its leadership stability.

Written for “FBI Leadership Resignations” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 8 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 FBI Leadership Resignations
Crime & Law · 9 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans right and hedges 6% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
ABC News (US)
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 1 of 10 claims Outlet record 70/100
South China Morning Post
Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 64/100
The Independent
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 0 of 10 claims Outlet record 59/100
Fox News
Hedges 3 of 38 claims Outlet record 69/100
New York Post
Hedges 1 of 9 claims Outlet record 66/100
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 0 of 6 claims Outlet record 68/100
Times of India
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 1 of 17 claims Outlet record 59/100
NBC News
Outlet record 60/100
Daily Mail
Hedges 6 of 25 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles describe different events involving separate individuals within the FBI.”
Times of India
Hedges 2 of 17 claims Outlet record 59/100
“Article A describes Andrew Bailey stepping down from his position at the FBI, while Article B discusses the issuance of the 'Patel Report' and mentions Bailey's resignation only in passing.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
16
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
6%
1 of 16 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
66/100
The Guardian's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
9
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-28 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Guardian · 2749 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Ariana Baio
35 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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Also by Ariana Baio
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 35 articles by Ariana Baio →

Topics

FBI Fulton county Georgia Missouri New York

Subjects

FBI ORG · 12× Bailey PERSON · 9× Patel PERSON · 4× Missouri GPE · 3× Trump PERSON · 3× Andrew PERSON · 2× Raia PERSON · 2× Andrew Bailey PERSON · 1× Donald Trump PERSON · 1× Kash Patel PERSON · 1×

Narrative

“I am confident Director 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,” he added, thanking FBI director Kash Patel, Donald Trump and attorney general Todd Blanche.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-28
🔮 Andrew Bailey, a deputy director of the FBI who has been overseeing some of Trump’s election-related investigations, will step down from his position approximately one year after assuming his role.
2026-09-28 · The Guardian
FBI co-deputy director Andrew Bailey steps down amid agency shake-up · assertive framing

Claims (16 extracted, 1 hedged)

Andrew Bailey, a deputy director of the FBI who has been overseeing some of Trump’s election-related investigations, will step down from his position approximately one year after assuming his role. asserted
who → oversee → role
“I am announcing that I am stepping down to return to my family in Missouri,” Bailey wrote in an X post on Monday amid an ongoing shake-up at the bureau. asserted
Bailey → announce → bureau
“I am confident Director 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,” he added, thanking FBI director Kash Patel, Donald Trump and attorney general Todd Blanche. asserted
he → continue → Patel
Bailey, a hardline conservative and former attorney general of Missouri, began serving in the unusual co-deputy director position with former deputy Dan Bongino, a podcaster who had no formal FBI experience, in September 2025. asserted
who → begin → September
Since Bongino left the FBI in January, Bailey has been serving as co-deputy director with Christopher Raia, a former FBI special agent and New York field office official. asserted
Bailey → leave → Raia
It is unclear whether Trump plans to pick another deputy director to serve alongside Raia. uncertain
Trump → plan → Raia
In his role at the FBI, Bailey had been overseeing some of Trump’s election-related investigations, including one related to 2020 ballots in Georgia. asserted
Bailey → oversee → Georgia
He was present in January when FBI agents executed a search warrant at an election office in Fulton county and seized ballots among other materials from the 2020 presidential election. asserted
agents → execute → election
MS Now was the first to report on Bailey’s resignation. asserted
MS → report → resignation
Under Patel’s leadership, the FBI has seen mass departures of career agents, some of whom have been forced out for perceived political bias; some have left voluntarily for fear of retribution or to avoid carrying out orders they do not agree with. asserted
they → see → orders
Though Bailey said he was leaving to spend more time with family, a New York Times report indicated that Bailey and Raia had somewhat of a contentious relationship with Patel and went long stretches without speaking to each other. asserted
Bailey → say → other
When asked for comment, the FBI referred the Guardian to Bailey’s social media post announcing his resignation. asserted
FBI → ask → resignation
On X, Patel thanked Bailey for his dedicated service. asserted
Patel → thank → service
“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. asserted
which → leave → success
Andrew’s leadership at the FBI will be missed but we are grateful he answered the call to serve asserted
he → miss → call
!” Patel wrote. asserted
Patel → write → ?
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