WASHINGTON (AP) — Andrew Bailey, one of the FBI's two deputy directors, announced Monday that he was leaving the position after just over a year on the job and would be returning to Missouri to spend time with his family.
Bailey was named co-deputy director in August 2025 to serve alongside Dan Bongino at a time of high tensions between FBI and Justice Department leadership over the handling of the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. The appointment was unusual because the FBI for years has only had one person at a time in the deputy director position, the bureau's No. 2 job.
A former attorney general from Missouri and ardent Republican backer of President Donald Trump, Bailey remained in his position after Bongino announced his departure and as the FBI in January added another deputy director, veteran agent Christopher Raia, to serve under Director Kash Patel.
Bailey announced his resignation from the FBI in a post on X on Monday in which he thanked Trump, Attorney General Todd Blanche and Patel for “the opportunity to serve in the FBI.”
“With great pride in what we have accomplished, I am announcing that I am stepping down to return to my family in Missouri. 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,” Bailey wrote.
Patel in his own post credited him for “dedicated service” and for “instituting critical reforms.”
Bailey maintained a low public profile during his brief tenure as deputy director, though he was present in January when agents executed a search warrant at the main election facility in Fulton County, Georgia, as part of an FBI election fraud investigation.
FILE - Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey stands in the governor's office after being sworn in, Jan. 13, 2025, in Jefferson City, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian assets of German retailer Metro AG placed under temporary administration. The step comes against a background of tension between Germany and Russia over the war in Ukraine.
The order, posted Monday on the government website, did not state a reason. The step follows similar steps against the Russia businesses of global food company Nestle and French retailer Auchan under a 2023 decree aimed at businesses associated with “unfriendly countries.”
Temporary administration has led to local owners taking over the Russia businesses of French dairy concern Danone and Danish brewer Carlsberg at knockdown prices.
Metro said in a statement that although Metro Russia formally belonged to it, it had no further operational control over the business. The Kremlin order placed the assets under the administration of UK Torg Rus, described in the Metro news release as “a company of Metro Russia CEO Johannes Tholey.”
Metro said it had been reducing its connections to the Russia business since the 2022 Russian invasion. It said that “further consequences of the decree on Metro AG are currently being analyzed.” Metro has 9,000 employees in Russia.
Germany has concluded that Russia was responsible for an attempted drone attack at the Leipzig airport and closed a Russian consulate in Bonn and a Russian cultural center in Berlin. Russia in response closed the German consulate in St. Petersburg. Moscow denied the allegations.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met his German counterpart Johann Wadephul on Saturday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly but was dismissive afterward, saying that Wadephul "simply reiterated his official public position condemning Russia... you can judge for yourself whether that counts as dialogue or not.”
“The Russians are raising the pressure on Germany in their hybrid war,” said Stefan Meister, a Russia expert at the German Council on Foreign Relations. “It's being made clear that the Germans could lose even more companies and assets in Russia, in order to raise pressure on the German government from the German business community."
Meister said that Russia sees Germany “as a key adversary since it is Ukraine's most important single supporter.”
Some major Western businesses ceased operating in Russia and wrote off their businesses after 2022. Since then the Kremlin has imposed burdensome conditions for disposing of local affiliates, demanding they be sold at a steep discount and subject to exit taxes and government approval. Other companies have scaled back their operations, while others continue to do business as usual.
FILE - The logo of Metro Cash&Carry is photographed in Duesseldorf, Germany, Wednesday March 30, 2016. (Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa via AP, file)
