President Trump has refused to maintain customary distance between himself and the FBI, which was apparent when he immediately demanded loyalty from James Comey. He fired Comey and appointed Christopher Wray, who hasn’t been as docile as Trump would hope, for Wray threatened to quit when Trump and Jeff Sessions pressured him to fire his deputy. White House counsel urged Trump to lay off Wray because losing another FBI director would be disastrous, and now, CNN reports that the White House fears that Wray will indeed resign because he’s “raising hell” over Devin Nunes memo.
House Republicans persisted in voting to release the classified memo about alleged FBI surveillance abuses (over sketchy Trump campaign advisor Carter Page). Wray preemptive opposed the release while citing “cherry-picked facts” by Devin Nunes, who has been accused by Democrats of making “material changes” before sending the memo to Trump. It’s getting ugly:
Top White House aides are worried FBI Director Christopher Wray could quit if the highly controversial Republican memo alleging the FBI abused its surveillance tools is released, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation tell CNN.
Wray has made clear he is frustrated that President Donald Trump picked him to lead the FBI after he fired FBI Director James Comey in May, yet his advice on the Nunes memo is being disregarded and cast as part of the purported partisan leadership of the FBI, according to a senior law enforcement official. Wray’s stance is “raising hell,” one source familiar with the matter said.
CNN’s sources do note that Wray has not officially issued a resignation threat, but the Daily Beast has spoken to multiple former FBI agents who believe that Wray “must be prepared” to do so. However, their belief is mostly based on any credibility that the bureau would lose from the memo’s release. Yet Wray’s stance is that the memo doesn’t note that Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein (who, not coincidentally, is overseeing the Russia probe) followed proper procedure when he ordered surveillance of Page due to his extensive Russian ties.
Meanwhile, President Trump has reportedly been bragging to friends about how this memo will “discredit” the FBI, even after the Justice Department warned that releasing the memo would be “extraordinarily reckless.” All of this fuss … over 3 1/2 pages.
(Via CNN , Daily Beast & New York Times)