Christopher Wray: Biden intends to keep the FBI director in place, says an official

by

This is not unexpected.

During the transition, Biden signaled his plan to keep Wray on board, if President Donald Trump did not fire him first. Like all FBI directors, Wray has a ten-year term. Wray was appointed by Trump in 2017 and faced criticism from the former president on several issues.

Wray had no reason to think he was not on a solid level with Biden’s new administration, although White House press secretary Jen Psaki did not respond Wednesday when asked if Biden had confidence in Wray. .

“I haven’t talked inside about the FBI-specific director, Wray, in the last few days,” said press secretary Jen Psaki, “but I’ll take a look back if there’s more to convey.”

An official said he had simply not spoken to Biden about the FBI leader, so he responded honestly in his first briefing. If asked about this on Thursday, an official said he will likely answer that Biden, in fact, trusts the FBI director.

Wray’s team of federal investigators is currently pursuing thousands of leads in two efforts to prosecute people involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and try to prevent the dreaded follow-up attacks in Washington and around the country.

Trump uses the FBI director as a foil before election day
Wray announced last week that investigators identified more than 200 suspects in their investigation into the U.S. Capitol attack and arrested more than 100 individuals, a challenge that FBI and Justice Department officials say it is “unprecedented.”

While federal law enforcement officials have tried to reassure the U.S. public in recent days that they are up to the task on both fronts, their public statements also show the enormous challenge they face. they face in tracking possible threats to the nation’s capital, but across the country.

Police officers told CNN that authorities lost key signals before the siege, which left five dead and the Capitol looted, and that FBI preparations prior to the day of the Capitol attack have been subjected to scrutiny.
The Washington Post reported last week that the FBI warned of a violent “war” at the U.S. Capitol in an internal report issued a day before the deadly siege, but did not act with sufficient urgency to prevent the ‘national terrorist attack.

The Post said that on the Tuesday before the attack, an FBI office in Norfolk, Virginia, issued an “explicit internal warning that extremists were preparing to travel to Washington to commit violence and” war. ”

The report “painted a terrible portrait of dangerous plans, including individuals sharing a map of the complex’s tunnels and possible meeting points for meetings of potential conspirators” in several states before heading to Washington.

Prior to the attacks, Trump made little attempt to veil his contempt for Wray, which many of Trump’s allies have suggested he is doing little to eliminate what they consider rampant corruption in the FBI. He complained privately that Wray refuses to reprimand his predecessor James Comey, has punished those who recommended him the job, and said he would love to replace him.

Justice Department and FBI officials told CNN last year that Wray knew Trump was often unhappy with him and that the possibility of always being present could be dismissed by a tweet. But Trump’s repeated attacks on Wray seemed designed to motivate a subset of his political base eager to hear him confront a swampy, deep state, despite taking responsibility for executive appointments himself and then enjoying it. of Republican control of the Senate, which confirms the administration. nominees.

.Source