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Christopher Wray's cowardly exit: What's left when the FBI director acquiesces to Trump in advance?
Christopher Wray's cowardly exit: What's left when the FBI director acquiesces to Trump in advance?
There is no doubt that Wray understands the threat that Trump and his henchmen pose to the country and the world
By Heather Digby Parton
Columnist
Published December 13, 2024 9:15AM (EST)
(Salon) One of the most famous episodes in the Watergate saga 50 years ago was when CBS News reporter Daniel Schorr got a hold of Richard Nixon's "enemies list" and read it cold on the air, only to find himself listed at number 17.
....(snip)....
The Nixon White House actually committed dozens of abuses that came to light during the investigations spawned by the Watergate break-in and one of them was the use of the FBI to investigate Nixon's enemies list. After discovering the full extent of former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover's overwhelming misuse of the bureau for decades, including blackmail, harassment and persecution, Congress erected some strong guardrails designed to prevent such things from happening again. The Senate Judiciary Committee report explained:
The purpose of the bill is to achieve two complimentary objectives. The first is to insulate the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from undue pressure being exerted upon him from superiors in the Executive Branch. The second is to protect against an FBI Director becoming too independent and unresponsive.
....(snip)....
It has long been assumed that Trump would probably fire Comey's successor Christopher Wray as well if he won the presidency even though he was the one who appointed him in the first place. He was angry with Wray almost from the beginning when he resisted GOP House efforts to declassify a memo that claimed the Russia investigation was politically motivated. Wray rode that out but it soured Trump on him permanently.
....(snip)....
Considering all that history and Wray's reputed veneration of the FBI, it was expected that he would make Trump fire him in order at least to uphold the idea of the independence of the Bureau. He had three years to run on his term and Trump does not have any just cause to fire him as he is required to do under the law. To allow him to dismiss yet another FBI Director because he doesn't feel he is loyal enough to him personally is an affront to the rule of law and the agency Wray reveres. ...................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2024/12/13/christopher-wrays-cowardly-exit-whats-left-when-the-fbi-director-acquiesces-to-in-advance/
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