Andrew Bailey, Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), outside the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center after the FBI executed a search warrant Georgia, U.S. January 28, 2026. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage
On Monday, the FBI deputy director who was leading up the 2020 election integrity probe resigned with just 35 days until the Nov. 3 election. It came just days after a report that tens of thousands of FBI agents and officials had their personal records stolen by hackers. So, the resignation of FBI co-deputy director Andrew Bailey "raises a lot of red flags," one veteran journalist reported.
Speaking to MS NOW's Stephanie Ruhle, Carol Leonnig said that while President Donald Trump's administration claims it's taking the FBI hack "seriously," it's unclear whether it'll ever actually be capable of tracking down and prosecuting the hackers.
"There's nothing they can do to kind of close the barn door, right? There's nothing that can be done," Leonnig said. "You can't hide that information after it's leaked out. It's kind of like your credit card or your Social Security number. Once it's out there, you're in trouble."
Bailey's resignation was yet another piece of bad news. It made Leonnig wonder if it's one of the reasons that Trump keeps banning MS NOW because they're revealing so much bad news about the president's administration.
"The FBI is the premier law enforcement agency in the world, full stop, even though it's under a lot of challenge under the directorship of Kash Patel," continued Leonnig. "Now, this organization, which had two deputy directors installed."
She explained that this isn't normal.
"These two people were installed because the White House was concerned that Kash Patel, as a director, had no experience in the FBI, which the president knew when he appointed him and nominated him and when the Senate confirmed him. But here he is in that job. So these co-deputy directors were installed once to help Dan Bongino. If anybody remembers the famous conservative podcaster," Leonnig added, explaining that Bongino, who has now left, lacked the necessary experience for the post, which is why extra people were needed.
"I'm told by sources that [Bailey] was frustrated that an idea that was floated to him months ago, actually at the end of 2025, that he would eventually replace Kash Patel," Leonnig explained. "That wish never came true. And he was like, okay, you don't want me as a director. I'm out."
In public, Bailey has said that he was leaving to "spend more time with his family."
The reporter noted that it's an important thread to pull on, as Bailey was so involved in "overseeing election-related crimes and misconduct." There is a lot of pressure from the White House to prosecute election fraud for 2020, alleging that there was a widespread problem.
Ruhle asked if that was a red flag to her, and Leonnig agreed.
"It raises a lot of red flags. I'm not saying that I know with certainty," she said. "But I agree. It raises red flags. And as I say, it's a thread we should pull on about all of these people who are leaving, who had election-related sort of authority or portfolios, because it's happening across the Justice Department where people are saying, wait a minute, I don't want to do what the White House is directing the Department of Justice to do, when it might involve my professional reputation for life, my law license."
There's also a concern about future congressional investigations. Leonnig said that some of these people who resigned could end up as part of the Oversight Committee's questioning of those "who were ordered to do things by the white house that made them uncomfortable for lack of facts."