President Trump criticized FBI Director Christopher Wray in no uncertain terms on Tuesday morning, slamming the bureau chief for his acceptance of the findings laid out in the Justice Department inspector general’s report on the origins of the Russia probe.
In a tweet on Tuesday morning, Trump hinted at a possible Wray downfall, referring to him as the “current” FBI who will “never be able to fix the FBI” with “that kind of attitude.”
I don’t know what report current Director of the FBI Christopher Wray was reading, but it sure wasn’t the one given to me. With that kind of attitude, he will never be able to fix the FBI, which is badly broken despite having some of the greatest men & women working there!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 10, 2019
Following the release of the report on Monday afternoon, Wray told ABC News that he fully accepted the report’s findings, particularly its main assessment that the FBI did not improperly launch the Russia probe and there was no political motivation behind starting the investigation. Wray notably didn’t criticize the FISA application process used to obtain permission to surveil Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, which Inspector General Michael Horowitz was particularly critical of in the report.
Wray’s take on the findings is a massive departure from Attorney General Bill Barr assessment of the report, which he outright rejected on Monday following its release. Barr said the probe was launched on the “on the thinnest of suspicions” that were “insufficient to justify the steps taken.” Barr also asserted that “no one is more dismayed about the handling of these FISA applications than Director Wray.”
