Posted on 02/01/2018 11:07:18 AM PST by Red Badger
As Trump prepares to release a GOP document accusing the FBI of abuses, bureau alums hope Director Chris Wray holds the linebut has to be ready to walk.
Former FBI agents are warning that FBI Director Christopher Wray has to be prepared to quit, should President Donald Trump assent over bureau objections to the release of a memo calling the FBIs integrity into question.
The release of the memo, considered imminent, shows no signs of stopping, even as the leader of Democrats in the House called on its Republican author, Devin Nunes, to be removed from his chairmanship of the House intelligence committee. It was the latest move in an extraordinary episode that appears set to spark a crisis over the criminal investigation into Trumps potential ties to Russia.
At the center of the storm is Wray, Trumps hand-picked FBI director. Wray got his job after Trump fired James Comey last year for what Comey described as insufficient personal loyalty over the Russia investigation.
On Wednesday, Wrays FBI publicly attacked Nunes memo for material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memos accuracy. Trump overriding Wray will immediately call Wrays future in the Trump administration into question six month into his tenure.
Former FBI agents say that they hope Wray can remain in office, and pull Trump and House Republicans back from the precipice of what may be a pivotal moment in the bureaus history. But they also say Wray needs to show his willingness to walk.
Given the climate and the recent activities, going as far back as Director Comeys departure, Wray definitely must be prepared to resign, said Erroll Southers, a retired FBI special agent now at the University of Southern California.
I dont think the director has to resign. He should be prepared to publicly discredit this cherry-picked, fake memo and expose Nunes, added former FBI counterterrorism special agent Ali Soufan. Soufan cited the bad blood between Director Louis Freeh and President Bill Clinton in the 1990s as a sign that the FBI can continue investigating a president despite their relationship collapsing.
Former FBI agents are warning that FBI Director Christopher Wray has to be prepared to quit, should President Donald Trump assent over bureau objections to the release of a memo calling the FBIs integrity into question.
The release of the memo, considered imminent, shows no signs of stopping, even as the leader of Democrats in the House called on its Republican author, Devin Nunes, to be removed from his chairmanship of the House intelligence committee. It was the latest move in an extraordinary episode that appears set to spark a crisis over the criminal investigation into Trumps potential ties to Russia.
At the center of the storm is Wray, Trumps hand-picked FBI director. Wray got his job after Trump fired James Comey last year for what Comey described as insufficient personal loyalty over the Russia investigation.
On Wednesday, Wrays FBI publicly attacked Nunes memo for material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memos accuracy. Trump overriding Wray will immediately call Wrays future in the Trump administration into question six month into his tenure.
Former FBI agents say that they hope Wray can remain in office, and pull Trump and House Republicans back from the precipice of what may be a pivotal moment in the bureaus history. But they also say Wray needs to show his willingness to walk.
Given the climate and the recent activities, going as far back as Director Comeys departure, Wray definitely must be prepared to resign, said Erroll Southers, a retired FBI special agent now at the University of Southern California.
I dont think the director has to resign. He should be prepared to publicly discredit this cherry-picked, fake memo and expose Nunes, added former FBI counterterrorism special agent Ali Soufan. Soufan cited the bad blood between Director Louis Freeh and President Bill Clinton in the 1990s as a sign that the FBI can continue investigating a president despite their relationship collapsing.
But Nunes has the support of Trump, on whose transition team he served. Trump is widely expected to assent to the memos release as soon as Thursday, though Fox News is reporting it will come Friday. That is the day when the House of Representatives parliamentary rules compel Trump to register any objections to declassification of the memo the FBI considers fundamentally misleading.
Southers expects Wrays tenure after the memos release to be very tense. The pressure is going to continue mounting. I never thought Id see the FBI deemed the enemy of the state by anyone, let alone people in this country, he said.
Should Wray remain in office, Southers continued, hes going to have to be a rock going forward, making clear to people that his only objective [will be] to stay focused on the mission. Certain things will be out of his control, and that includes his future, as it relates to the president.
Just what I was thinking. There is no way any former or present agent could comment with accuracy on this memo unless they've seen it, or been told in detail what is in it.
Here is the Soufan Group’s take on the State of the Union
speech.
http://www.soufangroup.com/tsc-intelbrief-the-state-of-the-union/
I would have R.R., not Wray. Fire-um-all, bring in Judge Jeanine Pirro.....
I still say there’s a lot of fog off war here, no one “knows” anywhere near as much as they think they do, and most of them are just spewing words to fill the void until the memo is released, which everyone knows will happen tomorrow. Wray’s role in this is yet unknown, because all of this is being based on hearsay and “sources”. Even CNN’s biased reporting had to admit:
“Wray has not directly threatened to resign after clashing with Trump over the possible release of the memo, the source added, because that is not his style of dealing with conflict.”
Show me a direct quote or official statement from Director Wray, then we can talk. Until then, I say this could all be gamesmanship. Wray can resign any time he wants to, but he cannot run the FBI any way he wants to. We elected President Trump, Wray was not elected by anyone and serves at the pleasure of the President. Never forget it.
I saw a report that only 6% of citizens in DC surveyed gave Trump positive approval of his SOTU speech as compared to 29% in the lowest Blue state. 6%?!? The thought crossed my mind that the center of Federal Government needs to move. What a rat-hole DC has become.
“Or Trey Gowdy.”
probably not.
1) He isn’t running again, so he won’t be around.
2) He’s never brought a major investigation to fruition while in office, in spite of a lot of show-boating and razzle-dazzle.
We want someone who’s effective and not easily intimidated.
SWAMP CREATURES: Christopher Wray Worked Under Comey on Enron Prosecution -Weissman Too
by Jim Hoft
On Sept. 11, 2003, on being confirmed by the Senate as Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division of the Justice Department, Wray worked under Deputy Attorney General James Comey.
While heading the Criminal Division, Wray oversaw the Enron Task Force, investigating among other issues the criminal malfeasance of auditor Arthur Anderson.
Sidney Powell, a former U.S. attorney whose 2014 book Licensed to Lie: Exposing Corruption in the Department of Justice is a shocking exposé of prosecutorial impropriety that she maintains still runs rampant today among Department of Justice prosecutors, warns that the Enron case was tarnished by a history of Department of Justice prosecutorial misconduct.
Powell focuses on the role played in the Enron prosecution by Andrew Weissmann, a DOJ prosecutor who is now part of Muellers team and is capable of extorting guilty pleas.
Noting on page 35 that Weissmann was the driving force behind the indictment of Arthur Anderson in the Enron case, Weissmann used the special tactics he developed prosecuting organized criminals, convinced that even if some of his special tactics went outside the bounds, the ends justified the means when prosecuting serious bad guys.
On page 410 of her book, Powell pointed that Weissmann forced Duncan into a guilty plea by misrepresenting to Duncan that his innocent conduct in the case was criminal.
Calling the DOJ prosecutors in the Enron case a cabal that came together in 2002, Powel charges that those involved in the Enron prosecution emboldened and fed each others worst traits (page 408).
The investigator dubbed as special counsel Robert Mueller’s “pit bull” by The New York Times has come under fire for perceived bias against President Donald Trump.
That investigator, Andrew Weissmann, was reportedly in attendance at former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s election night party last year at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. The revelation came days after the conservative group, Judicial Watch, published an email he sent to former acting Attorney General Sally Yates praising her for refusing to defend Trump’s controversial travel ban in January.
The “integrity” of the FBI wasn’t brought into question by Nunes or Trump. It was brought into question by the conduct of a former (and present?) Director and his loyal, personally- and politically-motivated underlings.
The FBI is doing what it does better than any other bureaucracy in the federal government (which I saw first-hand and from the inside after 9/11), including the CIA - it protects itself and it’s faux squeaky-clean reputation. The FBI has ceased to become an American institution and morphed into an American abomination. Does anyone really believe that draining the swamp was going to be easy?
KGB / FSB be gettin’ jealous!..................
“On Wednesday, Wrays FBI publicly attacked Nunes memo for material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memos accuracy.
yeah, in an UNSIGNED memo ...
we have no idea at all what Wray himself believes about the matter ... other than the unsigned memo, everything else the fake stream media has claimed has been based on, yes, you guess it: “anonymous sources” ...
This is not about "he said, he said" or insufficient loyalty by Trump or the American people.
It's about whether a crime has been committed. If Donald Freakin' Trump isn't above being investigated, neither is the leadership of the FBI.
In fact, thinking they're above that is generally a positive indicator of corruption.
I dont think the director has to resign. He should be prepared to publicly discredit this cherry-picked, fake memo and expose Nunes, added former FBI counterterrorism special agent Ali Soufan.
What does this guy know about a memo that has only been seen by a select few? Anything? Inquiring minds want to know.
GOOD x 1000
Yes but there are times of national emergency and this is one.
DJT is the boss. Never a good idea to intimidate the boss. If Wray quits, TFB.
Even if there are redactions, they can get filled in later. Just release the f*ing thing. Right now.
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You’re right. Besides, Trump and Nunez have complete copies.
One way or another, the complete memo will come out.
“unrolled” thread of LS’s twitter posts - easy reading:
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/959065438750560256.html
F-ing walk ya worthless slime.
You all “ leaders” have made a national joke of the fbi
No confidence.
If only the tern “resign” translated to hanged for sedition.
The FBI should be placed in receivership.
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That’s an excellent idea.
Scaramucci
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