President Donald Trump’s crusade to undermine the credibility of the FBI and its leadership – up to and including Director Christopher Wray, his own appointed successor to Jim Comey – hit a major road block today.
The president and his attack dogs in congress like Rep. Devin Nunes (CA) have the country on edge with their determined effort to release a highly toxic and partisan memo that purports to reveal multiple abuses by the FBI in the Trump-Russia investigation.
Trump’s justice department and the FBI director have both come out publicly against the release of the memo, saying they have “grave concerns” about its contents and citing “factual inaccuracies.”
Those objections have fueled rumors that Christopher Wray could be on his way out, just days after Andrew McCabe, the long serving deputy director at the FBI who was forced out earlier this week.
Not if the rank and file members of the FBI have anything to say about it. The FBI Agents Association issued a statement today that ‘G-Men’ across the country stand firmly behind director Wray. And, in what can only be interpreted as a slap in face to the president, reaffirmed their loyalty to the Constitution and the rule of law.
“The FBI Agents Association appreciates FBI Director Chris Wray standing shoulder to shoulder with the men and women of the FBI as we work together to protect our country from criminal and national security threats,’ the statement reads.
“As Director Wray noted, FBI Special Agents have remained steadfast in their dedication to professionalism, and we remain focused on our important work to protect the country from terrorists and criminals—both domestic and international.
“Special Agents take a solemn oath to our country and to the Constitution, and the American public continues to be well-served by the world’s preeminent law enforcement agency.”
For months now, Republican allies of President Trump in both congress and the right wing media have perpetrated a steady and increasingly intense smear campaign against the justice department and the intelligence community.
Their aim is to discredit special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and undermine the public’s trust in the FBI, particularly their ability to conduct a fair and balanced investigation.
The optics have always been a problem for the GOP, who have always claimed to be the champions of the rule of law in general, and of men and women in law enforcement in particular. At the height of the Black Lives Matter protests, it was Republicans who defined the issue as one between those who supported police (them), and those who supported cop killers (Democrats).
The president’s defenders and enablers have danced around that blatantly hypocritical positioning by claiming that their ire is directed solely at the senior leadership of the FBI and other intelligence agencies in Washington – the so-called swamp – and not the rank and file members out in the field.
That transparently pathetic strategy has now completely blown up in their faces today because the FBI rank and file just took the extraordinary step of publicly declaring support of their director in utter defiance of President Trump.
The move is so significant that former FBI Director Jim Comey tweeted about it soon after it went public.
All should appreciate the FBI speaking up. I wish more of our leaders would. But take heart: American history shows that, in the long run, weasels and liars never hold the field, so long as good people stand up. Not a lot of schools or streets named for Joe McCarthy.
— James Comey (@Comey) February 1, 2018
Now that yet another Trump talking point has been dismantled, we can’t wait to see what they come up with next.