Trump slams Wray over IG report
FBI chief defends findings despite attacks from Barr
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump lashed out Tuesday at FBI Director Christopher Wray, saying that “he will never be able to fix the FBI” based on his reaction to a Justice Department inspector general’s report examining the bureau’s investigation of Trump’s 2016 campaign.
“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,” Trump tweeted. “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!”
The 434-page report rebutted conservatives’ accusations that top FBI officials were driven by political bias to illegally spy on Trump advisers as part of the investigation of election interference by Russia, but it also found broad and “serious performance failures” requiring major changes.
Attorney General William Barr also sharpened his attacks on the FBI’s investigation into possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign to influence the 2016 election, alleging in media interviews Tuesday that the bureau had flimsy reason to initiate the probe, pursued the matter even after the case had “collapsed,” and might have acted in bad faith.
In an interview with NBC News, and, later, at
The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council, Barr disputed aspects of the Justice Department inspector general’s assessment of the Russia case — especially those that were exonerating for the FBI — while emphasizing the malfeasance the watchdog had uncovered.
“It was a travesty, and there were many abuses,” he said of the Russia case. “From day one, it generated exculpatory information and nothing that substantiated any kind of collusion.”
In a statement Monday, Wray, a Trump appointee, said he had ordered more than 40 corrective steps to address the report’s recommendations,” adding that he would not hesitate to take “appropriate disciplinary action if warranted.”
He noted to ABC News, though, that it was “important that the inspector general found that, in this particular instance, the investigation was opened with appropriate predication and authorization.”
The report, which was based on more than 1 million documents and more than 170 interviews, is the most exhaustive assessment of the investigation of Russian election interference that roiled Trump’s presidency, an inquiry that would ultimately be taken over by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Wray was sworn in as FBI director in August 2017, replacing Andrew McCabe, who had been leading the bureau in an acting capacity after Trump fired James Comey.
Unlike Comey, Wray has sought to keep a low profile, and that has helped him somewhat to avoid conflict with the president.
But the FBI director has been at odds with Trump at times.
For example, Wray earlier this year said he would not use the term “spying” to describe the FBI’s surveillance activities toward the Trump campaign in 2016 — contradicting both the president and Attorney General William Barr.
Wray also told ABC News on Monday that Inspector General Michael Horowitz “did not find political bias or improper motivations impacting the opening of the investigation or the decision to use certain investigative tools during the investigations.”
He rejected characterizing the bureau’s work as that of the “deep state” — a term Trump has used. “I think that’s the kind of label that’s a disservice to the men and women who work at the FBI who I think tackle their jobs with professionalism, with rigor, with objectivity, with courage,” he said. “So that’s not a term I would ever use to describe our workforce, and I think it’s an affront to them.”
Wray separately said the FBI had “no information that indicates that Ukraine interfered with the 2016 presidential election.”
Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer, has suggested otherwise and recently traveled to Ukraine to meet with people there who he thinks might bolster his case.
“When you see politicians pushing this notion, are you concerned about that in terms of its impact on the American public?” ABC News’s Pierre Thomas asked Wray.
“Well, look, there’s all kinds of people saying all kinds of things out there,” Wray responded. “I think it’s important for the American people to be thoughtful consumers of information, to think about the sources of it and to think about the support and predication for what they hear.”
Asked on Fox News after Trump’s tweet whether the president was disenchanted with Wray, White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham responded, “I don’t believe so. I think that one thing about this president, if he’s not happy with you, you will be the first to know. He’s got great respect for the FBI and all intelligence agencies and for the thousands and thousands of law enforcement officers who work there.”
Officials have said that Barr and Wray have a good working relationship, but that they expect the inspector general’s report will increase tensions at least in the short term between the FBI and the Justice Department, as well as with the White House.
In the interview with NBC News, Barr said he knew what the president was “getting at” with the tweet, specifically that the bureau “can’t ignore the abuses of the past” or “appear to be justifying or miminizing them.”
But Barr said he and Wray had “worked well together.”
Asked whether he had confidence in Wray, Barr responded simply, “yes.”