In a flaming letter replete with instances when the FBI let America down, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa called for FBI Director Christopher Wray to step down.
Wray still has three years left in the 10-year term to which he was appointed, according to the New York Post.
President-elect Donald Trump has named Kash Patel to take over the agency, and Monday sources at the FBI claimed Wray was planning to step down by Jan. 20.
In a news release posted to Grassley’s website, Grassley noted five major areas where Wray failed America.
The first area of FBI misconduct was “[s]ubjecting President Trump to a continuing double standard, including an invasive and unwarranted FBI raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence,” the release said, noting that the FBI “[s]at on bribery allegations against then-Vice President Joe Biden and Hunter Biden” and tried to claim allegations about the Bidens were Russian disinformation.
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Incoming Senate Judiciary Chairman @ChuckGrassley issues damning 11-page letter of the FBI’s widespread malfeasance under the leadership of FBI Director Chris Wray and Deputy Director Paul Abbate.
The Senate cannot confirm @Kash_Patel soon enough.https://t.co/qtZAURpDRS pic.twitter.com/fDQ2fxa6Wf
— 🇺🇸 Mike Davis 🇺🇸 (@mrddmia) December 9, 2024
The release said that Wray failed to provide information about sexual misconduct at the FBI, Afghan evacuee vetting, and an FBI memo that labeled Christians as violent extremists.
Should Wray face prosecution for his stunning defiance of Congress and dereliction of duty?
The FBI also failed to protect whistleblowers and retaliated against them, the release said.
A letter Grassley wrote Wray said “other examples of blatant failures throughout your tenure abound,” including a failure to properly investigate “child trafficking through the Biden-Harris Office of Refugee Resettlement at the Department of Health and Human Services.”
He also castigated Wray for using an FBI jet to avoid traffic.
The letter said that when Wary was confirmed, Grassley expected him to root out the politicization of the FBI that had taken place under former Director James Comey and reform the agency.
“As we stand at the threshold of a new Congress and a new administration, with seven years of water under the bridge, you’ve failed in these fundamental duties as director. Even President Biden, who denied weaponizing his administration against President-elect Trump, has finally admitted that political bias has indeed infected law enforcement,” Grassley wrote.
“These failures are serious enough and their pattern widespread enough to have shattered my confidence in your leadership and the confidence and hope many others in Congress placed in you. Rather than turn over a new leaf at the FBI, you’ve continued to read from the old playbook of weaponization, double standards, and a relentless game of hide-and-seek with the Congress,” he wrote.
In the letter, Grassley wrote that Wray’s conduct “has prevented the truth on some issues from ever reaching the American people.”
“You’ve also shown a continuing double standard and failure to carry through on promises,” he wrote.
“For the good of the country, it’s time for you and your deputy to move on to the next chapter in your lives,” he said, referencing Deputy Director Paul Abbate.
“I’ve spent my career fighting for transparency, and I’ve always called out those in government who have fought against it. For the public record, I must do so once again now. I therefore must express my vote of no confidence in your continued leadership of the FBI,” he wrote.
“President-elect Trump has already announced his intention to nominate a candidate to replace you, and the Senate will carefully consider that choice. For my part, I’ve also seen enough, and hope your respective successors will learn from these failures,” Grassley wrote.
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