WASHINGTON (Reuters) -FBI Director Chris Wray will step down from his post early next year, the bureau said on Wednesday, after Republican President-elect Donald Trump signaled his intent to fire the veteran official and replace him with firebrand Kash Patel. Trump himself had appointed Wray, a fellow Republican, to his 10-year term in 2017, after firing his predecessor James Comey, who the then-president soured on over the FBI's investigations into alleged contacts between his 2016 campaign and Russia. "After weeks of careful thought, I’ve decided the right thing for the Bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current Administration in January and then step down," Wray told FBI employees today, the agency said in a statement.