FBI Director Christopher Wray
Photographer: Sarah Silbiger / Getty Images / Bloomberg
Photographer: Sarah Silbiger / Getty Images / Bloomberg
Donald Trump’s aides advised him not to fire FBI Director Chris Wray after the election because an incumbent director – or deputy president-elect Joe Biden – could be even more opposed to the president and his agenda. according to the people who know the subject.
Trump has been wary of Wray, believing the FBI director should have investigated the president’s political opponents, including Biden and his family, more aggressively before the November election.
NBC News reported Wednesday that the White House attorney’s office warned Trump that firing Wray could put him in potential danger, raising questions about a possible obstruction of justice similar to the controversy following Trump’s dismissal of former FBI Director James Comey in 2017.
But in the end, Trump was influenced by arguments from other advisers that the political consequences of firing Wray would be worse than keeping him in his place, according to several people familiar with the talks. They asked that they not be identified because Trump has never publicly acknowledged that he is considering firing the current FBI director.
Trump was told that Wray deputies, who would take over the leadership of the office after his dismissal, are unlikely to reverse the course of police decisions that had frustrated the president. The current deputy director of the FBI, David Bowdich, is a 25-year veteran of the agency.
Also, as aides argued, Biden would be able to appoint a new FBI director, someone who was politically loyal to the new president and hostile to Trump or less willing to conduct investigations that could harm Democrats.
Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, revealed this month that his foreign business activities and related tax issues are being investigated by federal police authorities. Biden said Wednesday he is confident his son has done nothing wrong.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Attorney General William Barr was aware of Hunter Biden’s investigation earlier this year, but acted to prevent its public disclosure before the election. Trump has done it expressed frustration with that decision, and Barr announced Monday that he would leave the administration on Dec. 23.
Some of the president’s allies have been concerned that the Biden administration may criminally investigate the president and his family, although the president-elect has said this is not his priority. Trump has said he is not worried, but has nevertheless held a series of meetings and talks about possible pardons during his last days in office, including the possibility of granting preventive clemency to his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
Trump has also debated pardons for his three eldest children, the The New York Times reported.
Wray was one of several officials Trump considered firing after the defeat of his re-election. The president and his advisers also discussed the possible removal of CIA Director Gina Haspel and Barr.
Trump continued to fire Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and fired National Security Department cyber-chief Chris Krebs after Krebs publicly declared that the election was safe, undermining the president’s effort to portray the result as fraudulent.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the president’s staff deliberations.