Trump Responds to Director Wray: ‘He’ll Never be Able to Fix the FBI’

President Trump criticized FBI Director Christopher Wray on Tuesday about his response to the Justice Department inspector general’s report on the origins of the FBI’s Russia investigation and the use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants to monitor Trump’s former campaign adviser Carter Page.

The inspector general’s report indicated that while there were several concerns about the FBI’s practices in obtaining the FISA warrant as well as other aspects of the probe, there was no evidence shown that proved political bias or impropriety regarding the motives in the investigation. Wray has said that he accepts these findings, however, the president said on Tuesday that he doesn’t think Wray is taking the concerns as seriously as he should be.

“I don’t know what report current Director of the FBI Christopher Wray was reading, but it sure wasn’t the one given to me. With that kind of attitude, he will never be able to fix the FBI, which is badly broken despite having some of the greatest men & women working there!” Trump tweeted.

During an interview with ABC News, Wray indicated that the IG report’s conclusion showed no political bias or any improper motives behind the FBI’s initiating the Russia probe, saying, “I think it’s important that the inspector general found that in this particular instance the investigation was opened with appropriate predication and authorization.”

When Wray was asked if he had any evidence that the FBI unfairly targeted Trump’s campaign, Wray said, “I don’t,” and seemed to take offense to the idea that the FBI is part of a “deep state.”

“I think that’s the kind of label that is a disservice to the 37,000 men and women who work at the FBI who I think tackle their jobs with professionalism, with rigor, with objectivity, with courage … so that’s not a term I would ever use to describe our workforce and I think it’s an affront to them,” he said.

Wray did, however, acknowledge bureau errors cited in the IG report, as well.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Wray indicated that the report identified problems that are “unacceptable and unrepresentative of who we are as an institution.” He further stated that the FBI would make changes in regard to how it handles confidential informants, applies for warrants from the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, conducts briefings on foreign influence for presidential nominees, and structures sensitive investigations, such as the Russia probe in 2016. Ethics training was also reinstated, he added.

“I am very committed to the FBI being agile in its tackling of foreign threats,” Wray said. “But I believe you can be agile and still scrupulously follow our rules, policies and processes.”

This response was after Wray wrote a letter to Inspector General Michael Horowitz, which said, “the FBI accepts the Report’s findings and embraces the need for thoughtful, meaningful remedial action.”

While the IG report detailed the FBI’s failures during the Russia probe, the conclusion that there was no political bias is completely different than what President Trump thinks and his theory that the Obama administration officials were unfairly targeting his election campaign.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Bill Barr criticized the FBI’s conduct during the investigation and noted that “most of the misconduct identified by the Inspector General was committed in 2016 and 2017 by a small group of now-former FBI officials.”

Barr praised Wray for his cooperation with the investigation and said he has “full confidence in Director Wray and his team at the FBI, as well as the thousands of dedicated line agents who work tirelessly to protect our country.”


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