Tag: Christopher Wray

Inside Trump’s push to oust his own FBI chief

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The former president repeatedly asked his aides to fire Christopher Wray, including in an explosive encounter in April of last year.

Then-President Donald Trump sought to oust FBI Director Christopher Wray last spring and replace him with counterintelligence head William Evanina, according to three former Trump officials familiar with the episode.

Under the plan, the former officials said, Kash Patel — a former aide to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) and a fierce critic of the Russia probe — would have become the bureau’s deputy director.

Previously unreported details of the proposal reveal just how seriously the former president took his grievances against the intelligence and law enforcement establishment. It shows Trump at his mercurial peak, ordering up the removal of his own appointee in a fit of rage, only to back down when then-Attorney General William Barr threatened to resign if he followed through with the maneuver. (Aspects of this story were first reported by Business Insider.) Continue reading.

Exclusive: GOP senators seek FBI investigation into Biden Pentagon nominee

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A group of 18 Republican senators on Tuesday wrote to FBI Director Christopher Wray seeking an investigation into President Biden‘s nominee for a top role in the Pentagon over whether he disclosed or solicited classified information after leaving his government job in the Obama administration.

The senators requested Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) not advance the nomination of Colin Kahl for under secretary of Defense policy for a full vote until the FBI has completed an investigation, according to a copy of the letter obtained exclusively by The Hill.

Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), who led the letter-writing effort, accused Kahl of using social media to disclose classified information. Continue reading.

FBI director says domestic terrorism ‘metastasizing’ throughout U.S. as cases soar

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FBI Director Christopher A. Wray on Tuesday defended the bureau’s handling of alarming intelligence leading up to the Jan. 6 mob attack on the U.S. Capitol, saying he has long warned about the rising tide of such threats as the domestic terrorism caseload roughly doubled over the past year.

“We have significantly grown the number of investigations and arrests,” Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee, his first testimony since the riot involving supporters of President Donald Trump. The FBI director testified in September that the number of such cases was about 1,000. By the end of 2020, there were about 1,400 such cases, and after Jan. 6 the figure ballooned again, the director said.

Domestic terrorism “has been metastasizing around the country for a long time now, and it’s not going away anytime soon,” Wray said. “Whenever we’ve had the chance, we’ve tried to emphasize that this is a top concern.” Continue reading.

Biden to keep Wray as FBI director

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President Biden plans to keep FBI Director Christopher Wray in his position, allowing him to continue serving out his 10-year term.

Wray was nominated by then-President Trump to helm the FBI in June 2017, after Trump abruptly fired James Comey from the position as the bureau was investigating his campaign’s communications with Russia.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki did not directly answer when asked at a briefing Wednesday evening whether Biden had confidence in Wray, saying she had not spoken with Biden about Wray specifically “in recent days.” Continue reading.

FBI director describes domestic extremists in homeland threats hearing

Antifa is more of an ideology than an organization, and QAnon is ‘more of a complex set of conspiracy theories,’ Wray says

The House Homeland Security Committee’s annual hearing on “Worldwide Threats to the Homeland” had a domestic focus Thursday, with member questions to FBI Director Christopher Wray directed at the security of the November election and the U.S.-based groups associated with riots and other violence that began this year.

Lawmakers anchored much of the three-hour discussion on topics such as Antifa, QAnon and Boogaloos, which have become major social issues in the presidential race. Protests and counter-protests over the last several months have been blamed for clashes in the streets that have led to multiple deaths, destroyed buildings and instances of violence against law enforcement.

Wray repeatedly said that there is no mechanism under U.S. law for the FBI to label domestic organizations as terrorist groups, and he said the FBI is focused on the violence any group might do, not their ideology. Continue reading.

Trump signals impatience with FBI director’s cooperation with reviews of Russia investigation

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President Trump took a swing at his FBI director, Christopher A. Wray, on Thursday, expressing impatience with the bureau’s level of cooperation with inquiries into its investigation of the Trump campaign in 2016.

Speaking by phone with Maria Bartiromo of Fox Business, Trump railed against past investigations of his former adviser Carter Page, his former national security adviser Michael Flynn and his own conduct as president.

Asked whether Wray was withholding FBI documents that could shed more light on those cases, Trump noted there was an election coming up before saying: “I wish he was more forthcoming. He certainly hasn’t been. There are documents that they want to get and that we have said we want to get. We are going to find out if he’s going to give those documents. Certainly, he’s been very, very protective.” Continue reading.

FBI director says China aims to become “world’s only superpower”

Axios logoFBI Director Christopher Wray gave a speech today at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C. in which he laid out “more detail on the Chinese threat than the FBI has ever presented in an open forum.”

Why it matters: China’s increasingly aggressive behavior under General Secretary Xi Jinping is ringing alarm bells in the U.S.

Details: Wray described the multi-pronged efforts they have seen from China to take advantage of Americans and of U.S. innovation and technology, including the Equifax hack, theft of sensitive military technology, pressure to self-censor, and economic coercion applied to state and local-level U.S. elected officials.

  • “If you are an American adult, it is more likely than not that China has stolen your personal data. … Our data isn’t the only thing at stake here — so are our health, our livelihoods, and our security,” he said.
  • “We’ve now reached the point where the FBI is opening a new China-related counterintelligence case approximately every ten hours.” Continue reading.

FBI director Wray orders internal review of Flynn case

The Hill logoFBI Director Christopher Wray on Friday ordered an internal review into the investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn amid rising GOP pressure on the FBI chief to examine the circumstances of the case.

The bureau announced in a statement that the after-action review will have two objectives: Evaluate whether there was any misconduct or errors made by bureau officials during the course of their investigation, and to determine whether there are ways to improve FBI policies and procedures.

The FBI said its Inspection Division will lead the review, which will “complement” the work of U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen, who is reviewing the prosecution of Flynn and guiding the decision of the Justice Department (DOJ) on how to proceed in the case. Continue reading.

FBI director stuck in the middle with ‘Obamagate’

The Hill logoFBI Director Christopher Wray is sitting in an increasingly hot seat as Republicans and the White House press forward with investigations into what President Trump is calling “Obamagate.”

Congressional Republicans are pressing Wray to provide more information after recently released FBI field notes showed officials debating how to handle the case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

The controversy over the notes contributed to Attorney General William Barr’s contentious decision to drop charges against Flynn, despite his guilty plea. Continue reading.

Senate Republicans defend FBI Director Wray against Trump’s angry attacks: ‘I think he’s excellent’

AlterNet logoMore often than not, Republicans in the U.S. Senate decline to say anything critical of President Donald Trump — especially if they are up for reelection in 2020 and are worried about the possibility of a GOP primary challenge. The message often conveyed to Republicans in right-wing media is: disagree with Trump at your own peril. But this week, some Senate Republicans are defending FBI Director Christopher Wray against attacks from Trump.

The president is upset with Wray because of his response to U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General Michael Horowitz’ report on the FBI’s 2016 investigation of Russian interference in the presidential election and possible Russian ties to the Trump campaign. Horowitz concluded that the FBI’s investigation was legitimately predicated and showed no political bias against Trump, although he was critical of the way some FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) warrants were handled during the investigation. And Trump is angry with Wray for agreeing with Horowitz’ report, attacking Wray as someone who “will never be able to fix the FBI.” Continue reading “Senate Republicans defend FBI Director Wray against Trump’s angry attacks: ‘I think he’s excellent’”