DeTrumpification: FBI needs better leadership than the current Trump-appointed Director

After Ex-president Trump realized he was under investigation by the FBI for his ties to Russia, he fired the former Director, James Comey. He then chose his friend Chris Christie’s former lawyer, Christopher Wray, to replace him. Wray’s former law firm also represented Gazprom and Rosneft, Russian fossil fuel companies.

Director Wray’s appointment could be seen, in and of itself, as obstruction of justice: Guy under criminal investigation fires guy in charge of criminal investigation. It would have been completely understandable if President Biden had replaced Wray, given his ties to the Federalist Society as well as the crooked Ex-president, but Wray was also a DC insider who had been confirmed by the Senate with a bipartisan vote.

MAGA Republicans are now attacking this Trump appointee as though he has been showing favoritism to the Biden administration, which may make the President further hesitate to replace him. That only increases the need to make the case that Director Wray’s tenure has been full of failures that have endangered our national security and the rule of law to the benefit of Republican interests.

FBI failed to follow up on tips in advance of January 6

This March, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report on the performance of multiple agencies regarding the January 6 insurrection. It cited the FBI for the failure to act on evidence obtained by its agents:

In the weeks preceding the January 6 attack on the Capitol, the FBI obtained information across other sources indicating potential threats. Through human source reporting, investigations, and observed activity, the FBI identified the increasing threat of violence at high profile special events, such as the 2020 election and 2021 presidential inauguration. FBI officials we spoke with said that from December 29, 2020, through January 6, 2021, they tracked domestic terrorism subjects that were traveling to Washington, D.C., and developed reports related to January 6 events.

The report condemned the FBI for not processing that information in time to protect our national security.
FBI slow-walked investigation of Trump’s apparent theft of classified documents

Also in March, the Washington Post reported that the FBI’s Washington Field Office (WFO) dragged its feet about proceeding with the Mar-a-Lago documents probe. The FBI WFO urged caution due to the sensitivity of the investigation, instead of alacrity given the danger to our national security. As noted in the GAO report, here too, the FBI seemed to be more concerned with the agency’s reputation:

Starting in May, FBI agents in the Washington Field Office had sought to slow the probe, urging caution given its extraordinary sensitivity, DOJ insiders said. Some of those field agents wanted to shutter the criminal investigation altogether in early June.

FBI did sloppy work on domestic terrorism

Under pressure from Congress, the FBI has made more reports on domestic terrorism, but those reports have been criticized for failing to follow legal procedures and for reflecting institutional bias in its hesitation to report on crimes by white men.

Director Wray’s FBI also botched the investigation into the Michigan militia plot to kidnap Governor Whitmer, resulting in the acquittal of two defendants and a hung jury for two others due to defense arguing entrapment by the FBI.

FBI passed the buck on investigating a Supreme Court nominee

Speaking of tips, back in 2018, the FBI received some 4,500 tips regarding alleged sexual misconduct by then-nominee for the Supreme Court Brett Kavanaugh. Wray chose to forward those tips to the White House Counsel for processing instead of having the FBI investigate them.

Both Kavanaugh and Wray are alumni not only of the Federalist Society but also of the same prep school, Phillips Academy.

FBI had a leak from 2016 to 2018

This February, the DOJ indicted the former head of counterintelligence in the FBI’s New York Field Office, Charles McGonigal, for allegedly selling access to Albanian and Russian officials. He was in that position from 2016–2018. As a senior counterintelligence official, McGonigal had access to some of the most sensitive information in the FBI’s possession, as well as the CIA’s and other agencies’ information.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has sought to question him about his potential influence on several high-profile investigations, including those involving Hillary Clinton and associates of Donald Trump. McGonigal was indicted only after he had left the FBI and gone on to work for the notorious Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.