Posted on 12/16/2020 4:31:37 PM PST by MarvinStinson
President Donald Trump has come so close to firing FBI Director Christopher Wray in recent months that the White House counsel’s office has warned him not to do so because it could put him in potential legal jeopardy, according to a senior administration official with direct knowledge of the discussion and a U.S. official familiar with the discussion.
White House lawyers “strongly” advised Trump against firing another FBI director out of concern that doing so would risk creating the perception that a “loyalty test” was being imposed on a position that traditionally has maintained independence from the White House, according to the senior administration official.
The lawyers, led by White House counsel Pat Cipollone, specifically said that firing Wray could spark legal issues similar to those raised after Trump ousted James Comey as FBI director in 2017 in the midst of the Russia investigation, the officials said.
Their concern was that firing Wray could be seen as retaliation because the president has publicly pressured him to take specific actions on certain investigations — such as announcing a probe into President-elect Joe Biden’s son — and then expressed frustration that Wray has not followed his suggestions.
Trump’s firing of Comey, whom he’d asked to drop an investigation into his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, became a key part of the special counsel’s probe into whether he had obstructed justice.
As a result, the president’s legal team advised him against firing Wray, the officials said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
Not so much a loyalty test (although showing some loyalty to your country isn’t a bad thing) but a basic competency test is appropriate.
And just in time too - the last half-dozen or so have totally missed the mark.
Don’t “fire” him before PUBLICLY charging him with blatant mistakes and dereliction of official responsibilities.
FBI?
Independent?
Bwhahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
Respect for that collection of clowns no longer exists in citizens with above two digit IQ.
Yeah, sure, Wray will protect him. LOL
Whoa, two unnamed sources. Must be true.
“ could be seen”.....???
So we have a President who can’t be President, and not hold people accountable because some unelected official told him not to.
I blame Trump for letting these officials run the country and its the reason why they cooked his goose on Election Day.
Did President Trump RESIGN without US knowing it yet?
NBC is Comcast
The president does not need anyone’s permission to fire
Wray. It’s his decision. There’s no way for them to take
him to task over it. End of story.
All these agencies are working against the President, but he’s the one facing trouble if he fires them? It’s not a swamp, it’s a sewer.
You know what? I think President Trump should do every thing the Uni-Party doesn’t want him to do and I mean EVERYTHING! That will keep Trump in the news till the next HOR election and fingers and kamalatoe on the sidelines news wise. Not that I think those 2 commies will be seated.
Whatcha think?
Probably not fake news. Probably Trump’a Deep State lawyers trying to keep him from doing what he should have done—after he made the mistake of listening to Deep State Christie and hiring Wray in the forst place.
Wray is probably better than anybody Biden...er, Harris...er, Obama would appoint.
I can’t imagine any downside at this point of firing his sorry ass. I was expecting the news when the polls closed on election night.
But Obama firing Michael Flynn was perfectly OK...
And the IG who was investigating an NBA player turned mayor of Sacramento who was diddling underage girls on the side.
He definitely should have fired him!
Bullshit. A President can fire an FBI director at will and doesn’t need a reason.
Let’s see.
POTUS Trump can’t fire a incompetent Employee but a POTUS Joementia can take away our Constitutionally protected Right to Bear Arms with a stroke of the Pen.
Got it.
according to a senior administration official with direct knowledge of the discussion and a U.S. official familiar with the discussion.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.