{"id":1589369,"date":"2022-08-04T15:31:06","date_gmt":"2022-08-04T19:31:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1589369"},"modified":"2022-08-04T15:31:32","modified_gmt":"2022-08-04T19:31:32","slug":"fbi-director-sets-new-record-for-lies-dodges-and-obfuscations-to-avoid-slight-attempts-at-congressional-oversight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fbi-director-sets-new-record-for-lies-dodges-and-obfuscations-to-avoid-slight-attempts-at-congressional-oversight\/","title":{"rendered":"FBI Director Sets New Record For Lies, Dodges, And Obfuscations To Avoid Slight Attempts At Congressional Oversight"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffbi-director-sets-new-record-for-lies-dodges-and-obfuscations-to-avoid-slight-attempts-at-congressional-oversight%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1589369&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>FBI Director Christopher Wray refused to answer legislators\u2019 questions about his agency\u2019s history of corruption and cover-ups and instead doubled down on defending the FBI\u2019s actions against U.S. citizens during a Senate Judiciary hearing on Thursday. <\/p>\n<p>Senators on both sides of the aisle explained their frustrations with the FBI\u2019s lack of transparency and response to their various letters inquiring about threats around the country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is the perception that there are two tiers of justice: one for people that are favored and one for ordinary Americans,\u201d Sen. Marsha Blackburn noted during her interrogation.<\/p>\n<h2>Dodging Questions About Politicized Investigations<\/h2>\n<p>Instead of addressing concerns about deceit, Wray confirmed Republicans\u2019 suspicions that the FBI does engage in politicized investigations such as evaluating so-called threats against school board members at the urging of the Department of Justice following its infamous letter from the National School Boards Association. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"qm1v0HinCDGJgrJOcRVzUwsnaaKMKPoH6bfXG9W1UBYkelIOW3ALx4E0SmxtjT2AVgk5McNCZlo\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Sen. Ted Cruz during FBI oversight hearing: \u201cThe National Association of School Boards asked the AG to investigate parents as domestic terrorists under the Patriot Act. \u2026 5 days after that letter, the AG sent a memo to you directing the FBI to target parents\u2026\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/j5nUrYkeLO\">pic.twitter.com\/j5nUrYkeLO<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SteveGuest\/status\/1555231025734815748?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 4, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Ranking member Chuck Grassley was just one of the many Republicans who grilled Wray about the FBI\u2019s increasing partisanship and the effect that a weaponized federal agency has on Americans\u2019 trust in its institutions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDirector Wray, simply put, the FBI\u2019s credibility is on the line, as are principles that helped found and sustain our great nation,\u201d Grassley said in his opening statement. <\/p>\n<p>Grassley sent a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/07\/26\/grassley-blasts-fbi-doj-as-corrupted-to-their-very-core-after-whistleblowers-allege-biden-family-business-coverup\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">letter<\/a> to Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland last month outlining how both the Department of Justice and the nation\u2019s primary domestic intelligence agency are \u201cinstitutionally corrupted to their very core to the point in which the United States Congress and the American people will have no confidence in the equal application of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That was after multiple whistleblowers alleged that high-ranking bureau officials manipulated evidence related to an investigation into President Joe Biden\u2019s son Hunter Biden and his <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/02\/all-fbi-agents-must-blow-their-whistles-or-theyll-be-complicit-in-bureaus-politicization\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cpay-to-play scandal of influence-peddling.\u201d<\/a> Evidence also <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/07\/28\/doj-may-have-obstructed-important-biden-corruption-investigations-out-of-pittsburgh-and-delaware\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">suggests<\/a>\u00a0that \u201cFBI Headquarters either improperly withheld information or presented inaccurate information to the U.S. attorney\u2019s office in Pittsburgh and possibly also Delaware\u201d about Hunter. <\/p>\n<p>When Grassley asked Wray on Thursday why concerns that \u201cthe FBI has become too politicized in its decision making\u201d were allegedly \u201cremoved from this year\u2019s final report\u201d and what Wray plans to do to address those concerns, the director dodged the question. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think you\u2019ve answered the process. But you haven\u2019t answered this specific thing about why that information was taken out of the report,\u201d Grassley noted after Wray went on a tangent about visiting various field offices.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah, I don\u2019t, I\u2019m not familiar with that. \u2026 Let me see if there\u2019s something we can share with you on that,\u201d Wray said.<\/p>\n<h2>Refused to Explain Gun Records Grab and Refugee Vetting Failures<\/h2>\n<p>Deflection and dodging quickly became the name of Wray\u2019s game. Wray wouldn\u2019t answer Republican Sen. Josh Hawley\u2019s questions about why the FBI is demanding the personal information of concealed carry permit owners despite state laws prohibiting local law enforcement from turning that over. Nor would he answer Hawley\u2019s questions about why the federal government reportedly did not vet hundreds of Afghan evacuees who were on various terrorist watch lists.<\/p>\n<h2>Sidestepped Border Security Concerns<\/h2>\n<p>One of Wray\u2019s talking points during the hearing was the spike in violent crime across the county. When Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas asked him how that violence is related to the crime rings operating thanks to the compromised U.S.-Mexico border, Wray danced around the issue. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cDirector Wray, I\u2019ve always thought of you as a straight shooter but you won\u2019t answer that question?\u201d Cornyn asked. <\/p>\n<p>It was then that Wray conceded that the \u201cborder presents significant security issues\u201d that feed the violence he claims his agency is struggling to combat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a wide array of criminal threats that we encounter down at the border. You mentioned a little bit in some of your questions, the transnational criminal organizations that use diverse and complex methods to traffick drugs, that then cascades over into prison and street gangs who distribute it,\u201d Wray admitted. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><\/figure>\n<h2>Vague Answers about Pro-Abortion Terrorism<\/h2>\n<p>When Sen. Mike Lee asked what actions the FBI took against pro-abortion activists\u2019 violent attacks against churches, pro-life organizations, and pregnancy centers following the U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s <em>Dobbs v. Jackson<\/em> decision, Wray promised to \u201cgo after that conduct aggressively\u201d but could not provide an exact number of times the FBI intervened. <\/p>\n<p>Instead, he rattled off a few investigations that he knew about in states such as Iowa and Tennessee. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"BsWeqLwwNZDpUgQCr1noJOabrDx8Vz22yFA0cX7s0jG6VZRHxAIe5PI4Ko9idqSmEQMK1YbkTgcS6F5l37tCE8y\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Sen. Mike Lee: &#8220;How many domestic terrorism investigations does the FBI currently have open under the category of abortion-related violence?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Director Wray: &#8220;We have opened a number of domestic violent extremism investigations\u2026&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/kZ3KrXrUdo\">pic.twitter.com\/kZ3KrXrUdo<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Townhall.com (@townhallcom) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/townhallcom\/status\/1555211255534821378?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 4, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>As Sen. Tom Cotton pointed out, Wray also seemed to have no issue with how his agency failed to address widespread protests and harassment against Supreme Court justices following the <em>Dobbs <\/em>leak or the final decision. <\/p>\n<p>To Wray\u2019s credit, he did state that the United States\u2019 most significant foe \u201cwould be the People\u2019s Republic of China and specifically the Chinese Communist Party.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But, as Republican Sen. Ben Sasse explained, the FBI\u2019s official priorities include the vague  \u201cdomestic terrorism\u201d umbrella but not explicit investigations into the CCP\u2019s actions within the U.S.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"nlWmG1LUMbsyZc\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Sen. Sasse: &#8220;Who is the most significant geopolitical foe the United States faces in the next decade?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Director Wray: &#8220;That would be the People&#8217;s Republic of China, and specifically the Chinese Communist Party.&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Slok9hH6Z7\">pic.twitter.com\/Slok9hH6Z7<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Townhall.com (@townhallcom) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/townhallcom\/status\/1555222900696809474?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 4, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h2>FBI\u2019s Ridiculous Definitions of \u2018Extremism\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Sen. Ted Cruz took his criticism of the FBI\u2019s focus on \u201cextremism\u201d and so-called extremist symbols one step further by placing his boot, which is emblazoned with the \u201ccome and take it\u201d flag, on the table in front of him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat are y\u2019all doing? This makes no sense. Do you agree with this FBI guidance that the Betsy Ross flag and the Gadsden flag and the Gonzales battle flag are signs of militia violent extremism?\u201d Cruz asked.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"wfLOAuy10M8WqT7A4BtvRmCQnYBF3VONX6tcE134vyfwsG8Hdgkz6ru2bmeSqdrYPxa\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Ted Cruz grills Dir. Wray over FBI training material listing patriotic flags as militia violent extremism.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;What are y&#8217;all doing? Do you agree w\/ this FBI guidance that the Betsy Ross flag and the Gadsden flag and the Gonzales battle flag are signs of militia violent extremism?&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/g6UZiiJbft\">pic.twitter.com\/g6UZiiJbft<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Townhall.com (@townhallcom) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/townhallcom\/status\/1555215465307308037?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 4, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>When Wray did get around to answering questions, his answers did not appear to give senators confidence that his agency is doing its job well.<\/p>\n<h2>Failure to Hold Agents In Suspected Whitmer Kidnapping Entrapment Accountable<\/h2>\n<p>Wray not only hinted that the agents involved in the Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping suspected entrapment scheme were not punished but also confirmed that the supervisory agent over the Detroit field office where the operation was based was later promoted to the Washington D.C. bureau.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"9BUlwgF\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Wray admits to Ted Cruz that the FBI special agent in charge of the Detroit field office during the Whitmer kidnapping debacle is now in charge of the DC field office during the J6 investigation. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/DUsXbBX0Vt\">pic.twitter.com\/DUsXbBX0Vt<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Greg Price (@greg_price11) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/greg_price11\/status\/1555216170172780544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 4, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h2>Contradicting the Jan. 6 Narrative<\/h2>\n<p>Speaking about the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, one of the only things Wray confidently told Democrat Chairman Dick Durbin during the hearing was that the FBI in the days leading up to Jan. 6 did not have \u201cany specific credible intelligence that pointed to thousands of people breaching the Capitol.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><\/figure>\n<p>That strongly contradicts the Jan. 6 Committee\u2019s accusation that former President Donald Trump and other Republicans <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/06\/13\/j6-committees-own-witness-debunks-claim-of-coordinated-insurrection\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">premeditated and coordinated<\/a> the riot.<\/p>\n<h2>Refusal to Condemn the Russia Collusion Hoax<\/h2>\n<p>In addition, Wray <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/04\/fbi-director-christopher-wray-refuses-to-condemn-russia-collusion-hoax\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">refused to condemn<\/a> the false allegations that President Donald Trump colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election, an accusation that fueled the FBI\u2019s unlawful spying on members of the Republican\u2019s presidential campaign, as a hoax.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you agree this allegation of secret collusion between President Trump and Russia was a hoax, yes or no?\u201d Blackburn asked. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s the terminology I would use,\u201d Wray said. \u201cBut I think there\u2019s been a lot written on this subject, uh, both in the special counsel\u2019s report, the inspector general\u2019s report.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wray also disclosed some FBI bureaucrats involved in the scandal are still being evaluated by the agency\u2019s disciplinary arm, the Office of Professional Responsibility. That was shortly before he refused to tell Blackburn whether the FBI believes the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation.<\/p>\n<p>As Grassley noted in his line of questioning, \u201cthe FBI greenlit a full investigation into Trump based on liberal news articles and information derived from liberal nonprofits\u201d but \u201cclosed investigative activity and sources that provided verified or verifiable reporting on Hunter Biden.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDirector Wray, you will have to explain to the committee \u2013 and to the country \u2013 how you\u2019ll manage this mess and how you\u2019ll clean house,\u201d Grassley explained. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"aMQb1Bd0J2jDrWCSLfkI\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Sen. Chuck Grassley compares the FBI&#8217;s investigation of President Trump and Russian Collusion to its &#8220;investigation&#8221; of the Hunter Biden laptop:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Director Wray, you&#8217;ll have to explain\u2026how you&#8217;ll manage this mess and how you&#8217;ll clean house.&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/649FgZA7Is\">pic.twitter.com\/649FgZA7Is<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Townhall.com (@townhallcom) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/townhallcom\/status\/1555197811830001664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 4, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at The Federalist and co-producer of The Federalist Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire and Fox News. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @jordanboydtx.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-comments mt-30 mt-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-comments-container d-flex flex-column align-items-center py-30\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"110\" height=\"106\" src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fdrlst-mark.svg\" class=\"img-fluid mb-20\" alt=\"The Federalist logo eagle mark\" \/>    <\/p>\n<p>Unlock commenting by joining the Federalist Community.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/plans\/pricing\/\" class=\"btn btn-on-white\">Subscribe<\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FBI Director Christopher Wray refused to answer legislators\u2019 questions about his agency\u2019s history of corruption and cover-ups and instead doubled down on defending the FBI\u2019s actions against U.S. citizens during<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":490,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1589369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1589369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/490"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1589369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1589369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1589369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1589369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1589369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}