FBI Shakeup: Raia’s Rise Marks Law-and-Order Comeback

Paul Riverbank, 1/10/2026FBI veteran Raia rises as co-deputy, signaling a law-and-order comeback and renewed focus.

Raia, who now moves from New York to Washington’s orbit, has the sort of resume that reads like a case study in institutional memory. Ask someone in the Queens field office about his days overseeing crackdowns along Roosevelt Avenue, and you’re likely to hear stories about late-night raids, battered notebooks, and handwritten lists of names. He doesn’t court the cameras, but his targets—gangs, traffickers, the shadow networks fueling street-level violence—know the name. Raia has spent more than two decades inside the Bureau, starting in Texas in the early 2000s, before making counterterrorism his focus. When disaster struck New Orleans this past New Year’s Day, it was Raia who got the urgent calls and stayed on the line until the last pieces were picked up. Few are surprised he got the nod.

Contrast this appointment with Dan Bongino’s brief, tumultuous tenure in the same chair. Bongino, the ex-NYPD cop tuned to the rhythms of cable talk shows, arrived with fanfare but left nearly as quickly as he’d appeared. His parting note, gracious and grateful, masked unresolved friction: insiders quietly point to a falling out with Attorney General Pam Bondi over the still-smoldering Epstein files. For bureaucracies, disputes like these come with the territory—especially when the nation is watching—but Bongino’s exit was brisk. President Trump, ever the showman, praised Bongino’s decision to “go back to his show.” Seldom do departures feel so conveniently timed.

The bigger picture, though, is the reshaping project underway under Director Kash Patel. By pairing the institution’s lifers—like Raia—with relative newcomers, Patel telegraphs a split-screen approach: tradition in one hand, disruption in the other. Raia now shares his deputy post with Andrew Bailey, a name more familiar on legal dockets than in bureau personnel files. If Patel’s aim is to restore balance after years of tumult, the message is coming through: neither old guard nor outsider will steer alone.

What awaits Raia is daunting, to put it mildly. The FBI’s credibility has been pounded in recent years by high-wire political investigations and the relentless, unforgiving churn of public opinion. Scars from the Russia probe and accusations of partisan overreach still ache. Trump’s circle, exhorting reform, wants a “restoration of trust”—a phrase that echoes through Washington halls with both hope and skepticism.

Yet there’s reason to believe Raia might be the right sort of steady hand for this moment. Unlike his predecessor, he’s never seemed tempted by the politics of personality; colleagues describe him as the kind who lets results—not rhetoric—do the persuading. If his record is any indication, expect a return to basics: fieldwork, discipline, the sense that digging through evidence trumps chasing headlines.

Watchers of federal law enforcement will track every move closely. Raia’s appointment is less about cleaning the slate than about reclaiming the best of the Bureau’s tradition while acknowledging the contours of a changed landscape. Whether he and Patel can truly deliver on promises to keep the FBI “impartial and in service to all Americans” remains to be seen.

What is clear is that the institution, for all its bruises, is not retreating quietly. With Raia now among the key architects, the agency signals its intent to turn the page—not by erasing history, but by writing a more convincing next chapter.

Changes at the summit of the FBI seldom go unnoticed, but Christopher Raia’s ascent to co-deputy director seems to carry more weight than a modest personnel shuffle. Walk the corridors of the J. Edgar Hoover Building these days and you’ll pick up on a cautious optimism, even among the typically tight-lipped rank and file. Things feel different.Raia, who now moves from New York to Washington’s orbit, has the sort of resume that reads like a case study in institutional memory. Ask someone in the Queens field office about his days overseeing crackdowns along Roosevelt Avenue, and you’re likely to hear stories about late-night raids, battered notebooks, and handwritten lists of names. He doesn’t court the cameras, but his targets—gangs, traffickers, the shadow networks fueling street-level violence—know the name. Raia has spent more than two decades inside the Bureau, starting in Texas in the early 2000s, before making counterterrorism his focus. When disaster struck New Orleans this past New Year’s Day, it was Raia who got the urgent calls and stayed on the line until the last pieces were picked up. Few are surprised he got the nod.Contrast this appointment with Dan Bongino’s brief, tumultuous tenure in the same chair. Bongino, the ex-NYPD cop tuned to the rhythms of cable talk shows, arrived with fanfare but left nearly as quickly as he’d appeared. His parting note, gracious and grateful, masked unresolved friction: insiders quietly point to a falling out with Attorney General Pam Bondi over the still-smoldering Epstein files. For bureaucracies, disputes like these come with the territory—especially when the nation is watching—but Bongino’s exit was brisk. President Trump, ever the showman, praised Bongino’s decision to “go back to his show.” Seldom do departures feel so conveniently timed.The bigger picture, though, is the reshaping project underway under Director Kash Patel. By pairing the institution’s lifers—like Raia—with relative newcomers, Patel telegraphs a split-screen approach: tradition in one hand, disruption in the other. Raia now shares his deputy post with Andrew Bailey, a name more familiar on legal dockets than in bureau personnel files. If Patel’s aim is to restore balance after years of tumult, the message is coming through: neither old guard nor outsider will steer alone.What awaits Raia is daunting, to put it mildly. The FBI’s credibility has been pounded in recent years by high-wire political investigations and the relentless, unforgiving churn of public opinion. Scars from the Russia probe and accusations of partisan overreach still ache. Trump’s circle, exhorting reform, wants a “restoration of trust”—a phrase that echoes through Washington halls with both hope and skepticism.Yet there’s reason to believe Raia might be the right sort of steady hand for this moment. Unlike his predecessor, he’s never seemed tempted by the politics of personality; colleagues describe him as the kind who lets results—not rhetoric—do the persuading. If his record is any indication, expect a return to basics: fieldwork, discipline, the sense that digging through evidence trumps chasing headlines.Watchers of federal law enforcement will track every move closely. Raia’s appointment is less about cleaning the slate than about reclaiming the best of the Bureau’s tradition while acknowledging the contours of a changed landscape. Whether he and Patel can truly deliver on promises to keep the FBI “impartial and in service to all Americans” remains to be seen.What is clear is that the institution, for all its bruises, is not retreating quietly. With Raia now among the key architects, the agency signals its intent to turn the page—not by erasing history, but by writing a more convincing next chapter.