The good news first: As RedState has been reporting, Christopher Wray is on his way out as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). President-elect Donald Trump called it a “great day for America as it will end the Weaponization of what has become known as the United States Department of Injustice” and promised his new administration “will now restore the rule of law for all Americans.”
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Trump also signaled his support for Kash Patel, his nominee to succeed Wray as FBI director.
“We want our FBI back, and that will now happen,” Trump wrote, as he ended his post, adding: “I look forward to Kash Patel’s confirmation, so that the process of Making the FBI Great Again can begin. Thank you!”
Now for the bad news: Reports are emerging that although Wray may be leaving his post of his own accord, he does not plan to go quietly. In true deep state fashion, Wray is busy promoting loyalists at the FBI in order to “burrow” them into the agency’s establishment. The goal? To disrupt Kash Patel’s plans to seriously reorganize the federal government’s chief law enforcement agency.
Sources within the bureau said Mr. Wray has begun promoting employees among the senior executive service, those who serve within the bureau’s leadership. These sources described this as an effort to burrow establishment figures deeper within the FBI.
Sources said a plan is being formulated to delay the new FBI director’s entry into the agency for three to four months.
Once Wray officially departs his post, his deputy director, Paul Abbate, will apparently be promoted to acting director and, in turn, name a new acting deputy director. It’s unlikely that this power structure, clearly intended to disrupt the new Trump administration’s plan to gut the FBI, will hold once Patel is confirmed, but there’s no mistaking that Wray intends to keep his tentacles in the agency for as long as possible.
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As RedState’s Joe Cunningham reported earlier this week of Wray’s pending resignation, the move “highlights the tense relationship between the FBI and Trump-era Republicans, who have long expressed dissatisfaction with the bureau’s leadership.”
More from Joe:
This friction has been fueled by high-profile incidents like the raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and whistleblower allegations of political bias within the FBI. For critics, Wray’s leadership symbolizes an agency in turmoil, accused of failing to address internal misconduct while projecting partisanship in its investigative priorities.
Joe noted in his piece that Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the incoming chairman of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote a scathing letter demanding Wray resign before his 10-year “tenure” was up, stating it was “time for you and your deputy to move on to the next chapter in your lives.”
This no-confidence vote in Wray and Abbate signals that Republicans have had it with the destructive, anti-Trump and establishment mindset that has infested the FBI, and they’re ready for all-out war. Wray, for his part, seemed to be giving a pep talk to the “troops” he’ll leave behind, telling them:
“Our adherence to our core values, our dedication to independence and objectivity, and our defense of the rule of law — those fundamental aspects of who we are must never change. That’s the real strength of the FBI — the importance of our mission, the quality of our people, and their dedication to service over self.”
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Meanwhile, Kash Patel is making visits to Senate offices on Capitol Hill this week in order to shore up support for his nomination. News of Wray’s intention to slow Patel’s leadership takeover of the FBI didn’t seem to phase Patel, who remarked, “I look forward to a smooth transition. I will be ready to serve the American people on day one.”
