{"id":2379299,"date":"2024-12-12T11:26:01","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T16:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/good-riddance-christopher-wray\/"},"modified":"2024-12-12T11:27:40","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T16:27:40","slug":"good-riddance-christopher-wray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/good-riddance-christopher-wray\/","title":{"rendered":"Good Riddance, Christopher Wray"},"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\">8<\/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%2Fgood-riddance-christopher-wray%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=2379299&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 \u2063Director Christopher Wray announced his resignation, set for January, following increasing scrutiny of his leadership during a\u2062 controversial period for \u2063teh agency. He stated that his\u2062 decision aimed to protect the FBI&#8217;s integrity and focus on its mission amidst political pressures. Critics argue that Wray contributed to the FBI&#8217;s politicization, acting as an instrument of the \u200c&#8221;deep state&#8221; under President Biden, especially during events such as the unprecedented raid \u200con former President Trump&#8217;s Mar-a-Lago \u2063estate and the investigation into the January 6 Capitol riot participants.<\/p>\n<p>Numerous examples of the FBI&#8217;s contentious actions \u2063during Wray&#8217;s tenure are cited, including the alleged mishandling\u2062 of documents seized in the raid, refusal \u2064to unlock cell phones related to assassination\u200d attempts on Trump, and the targeting of conservative individuals, such as parents at school board meetings and pro-life demonstrators. Allegations arose surrounding the FBI&#8217;s role in orchestrating foiled kidnapping plots, using informants to entrap suspects, and even surveilling\u2062 Catholic communities. <\/p>\n<p>Wray&#8217;s directorate faced further criticism for the perceived double standards in\u2062 FBI investigations, \u2063especially regarding the handling of Hunter\u2063 Biden&#8217;s laptop \u200cand its role in various politically charged cases. The FBI now\u2062 stands at a crossroads, with expectations \u2064of increased transparency and\u2063 accountability in the wake of wray&#8217;s \u200cdeparture, \u2063as highlighted by Senator chuck Grassley. wray&#8217;s critics paint his \u2064exit\u2063 as a pivotal\u2063 moment for the agency, suggesting that future leadership must embrace a different approach to restore public trust.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>FBI Director Christopher Wray <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/12\/11\/wray-resigns-in-disgrace-after-using-fbi-to-persecute-enemies-and-protect-lawbreakers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announced<\/a> on Wednesday that he would step down from the nation&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ted-cruz-is-right-bidens-ban-of-terms-like-illegal-alien-is-orwellian-designed-to-cover-up-the-truth\/\" title=\"Ted Cruz Is Right: Biden\u2019s Ban Of Terms Like \u2018Illegal Alien\u2019 Is Orwellian, Designed To Cover Up The Truth\">premier law enforcement agency<\/a> in January.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;After weeks of careful thought, I&rsquo;ve decided the right thing for the Bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current administration in January and then step down,&rdquo; Wray <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Politics\/fbi-director-chris-wray-resigning-amid-pressure-trump\/story?id=116653050\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">told<\/a> agency employees at an internal town hall. &ldquo;My goal is to keep the focus on&#8239;our mission &mdash; the indispensable work you&rsquo;re doing on behalf of the American people every day. In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the Bureau deeper into the fray, while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Dragging the bureau &ldquo;into the fray,&rdquo; however, seemed to be Wray&rsquo;s operating order. <\/p>\n<p>Was Wray the worst director the FBI ever had? That&rsquo;s debatable only because he replaced James Comey, whose entire career was prosecuting prominent people he simply didn&rsquo;t like on bogus charges (see <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2020\/12\/09\/5-reasons-its-time-for-donald-trump-to-pardon-martha-stewart\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Martha Stewart<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The resignation of Christopher Wray is a great day for America as it will end the weaponization of what has become known as the United States Department of Injustice,&rdquo; Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/trump-says-wray-resignation-great-day-america-touts-kash-patel-most-qualified-lead-fbi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">told<\/a> Fox News immediately following Wray&rsquo;s announcement. &ldquo;I just don&rsquo;t know what happened to him.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>What happened to him, however, is obvious. Democrats exploited the FBI as a vehicle of deep state interference to crack down on political opponents, and Wray became its conductor. The FBI director had two options when President Joe Biden took over, either get on board or get out. He obviously stayed and accelerated the FBI&rsquo;s transformation into an American KGB under the Biden regime. The only reason Democrats fret about Trump as a threat to democracy is because now the new president has the power to use the FBI the way Wray did.<\/p>\n<h2>1. Mar-a-Lago Raid<\/h2>\n<p>It was under Wray that FBI stormtroopers carried out an unprecedented raid of President-elect Donald Trump&rsquo;s Mar-a-Lago residence two years ago. The search, personally approved by Attorney General Merrick Garland after Trump&rsquo;s election&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/09\/conflict-of-interest-much-garland-oversees-raid-on-president-who-denied-him-scotus-seat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">thwarted<\/a> Garland&rsquo;s 2016 Supreme Court nomination, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/12\/breaking-fbi-raid-warrant-demanded-seizure-of-literally-any-record-trump-ever-saw-during-4-year-presidential-term\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">authorized<\/a> agents to confiscate any and all documents Trump may have come in contact with as president. FBI agents were even given the authority to use &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/05\/24\/this-week-in-lawfare-land-deadly-force\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">deadly force<\/a>&rdquo; to conduct the search of the former and now future president.<\/p>\n<p>Law enforcement officials ultimately left with 15 boxes of allegedly classified material after their search of the 128-room complex,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/08\/09\/fbi-even-searched-melanias-wardrobe-in-trump-raid\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">including<\/a>&nbsp;former First Lady Melania Trump&rsquo;s wardrobe. The ensuing case over Trump&rsquo;s alleged mishandling of classified documents was ultimately dropped by a federal judge in Florida who <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/07\/15\/judge-in-docs-case-throws-out-dojs-lawfare-against-trump-rules-jack-smiths-appointment-unconstitutional\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ruled<\/a> this summer that the special counsel&rsquo;s appointment was unconstitutional. The FBI was also found to have <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/05\/09\/did-federal-agencies-plant-classified-documents-to-frame-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tampered<\/a> with evidence from the raid.<\/p>\n<h2>2. FBI Refuses to Open Attempted Assassin&rsquo;s Phone<\/h2>\n<p>Trump revealed on a <a href=\"https:\/\/singjupost.com\/full-transcript-donald-trump-on-flagrant-podcast\/?singlepage=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">podcast<\/a> in October that the FBI has yet to open &ldquo;three or so cell phones&rdquo; possessed by the attempted shooter who stalked him on his Mar-a-Lago golf course this fall.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They had no problem getting the J6 people&rsquo;s cell phones open,&rdquo; Trump said. &ldquo;They opened their cell phones very quickly.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Wray also wondered whether Trump was actually shot in Pennsylvania this summer, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/07\/29\/the-left-is-trying-to-memory-hole-trumps-assassination-attempt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">telling<\/a> lawmakers at a public hearing, &ldquo;There&rsquo;s some question about whether or not it&rsquo;s a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear.&rdquo; The FBI later&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/07\/26\/us\/politics\/fbi-trump-bullet-ear.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">concluded<\/a> Trump was hit with a bullet.<\/p>\n<h2>3. J6 Crackdown<\/h2>\n<p>The FBI under Wray&rsquo;s direction carried out a nationwide hunt to find any and all participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, even&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/08\/19\/71-year-old-grandmother-visited-by-fbi-over-attending-january-trump-rally\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">questioning<\/a> 71-year-old grandmothers.<\/p>\n<p>The agency, meanwhile, refused to answer lawmakers&rsquo; questions about the extent of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-and-harris-announce-new-gun-actions-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Biden and Harris announce new gun actions - Washington Examiner\">federal law enforcement&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s involvement in the Capitol riot. Wray played down the FBI&rsquo;s own negligence about federal preparedness at an August Senate hearing and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/04\/fbi-director-wray-sets-possible-new-record-for-how-many-times-a-person-can-fail-in-a-3-5-hour-hearing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">claimed<\/a>, &ldquo;We did not have any credible intelligence that pointed to thousands of people breaching the Capitol.&rdquo;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/exclusive-secret-commandos-shoot-kill-authority-were-capitol-1661330\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">According<\/a>&nbsp;to Newsweek, however, the FBI deployed commandos with &ldquo;shoot-to-kill authority.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The FBI has been&nbsp;even&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/amgreatness.com\/2022\/02\/14\/the-january-6-pipe-bombs-look-like-another-fbi-hoax\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">less forthcoming<\/a>&nbsp;about a pair of pipe bombs planted at the RNC and DNC headquarters while charging nearly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-dc\/36-months-jan-6-attack-capitol-0#:~:text=Arrests%20made%3A%20More%20than%201%2C265,both%20District%20and%20Superior%20Court).\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1,300<\/a> people for the riot as of January.<\/p>\n<h2>4. Whitmer Plot<\/h2>\n<p>Sometimes the FBI was behind the very <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">plots federal law enforcement officials sought<\/a> to prosecute. While Democrats were branding Republicans as dangerous extremists during the 2020 election, the FBI revealed plans to kidnap Michigan Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. A group of far-right militiamen, the fable went, conspired to kidnap the governor and try her as a &ldquo;tyrant.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In July 2021, however, long after the election, BuzzFeed&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeednews.com\/article\/kenbensinger\/michigan-kidnapping-gretchen-whitmer-fbi-informant\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>&nbsp;that&nbsp;<em>at least<\/em>&nbsp;12 people involved were FBI informants orchestrating an entrapment plot.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The problem with the case is that it appears the FBI, through informants and undercover agents,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/21011399-21-0113-croft-arraignment-iptc-detention-hearing-e-filed#document\/p41\/a2046414\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hatched the kidnapping plot<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/21011328-dan-2nd-in-command\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">served in the key leadership positions<\/a>&nbsp;of the militia group,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/21011389-bellar-morrison-musico-day-3-transcript#document\/p60\/a2046321\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">trained the militia members<\/a>&nbsp;in military tactics, actively&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeednews.com\/article\/kenbensinger\/michigan-kidnapping-gretchen-whitmer-fbi-informant\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recruited participants<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/21011389-bellar-morrison-musico-day-3-transcript#document\/p202\/a2046318\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">and funded<\/a>&nbsp;much of the militia&rsquo;s activities,&rdquo; former CIA Paramilitary Operations Officer Max Morton&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/07\/26\/the-fbis-whitmer-kidnapping-case-looks-like-a-potemkin-terror-plot\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a> in The Federalist. &ldquo;Then, when various members of the Watchman militia became uncomfortable with the kidnapping plot, with several quitting, the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeednews.com\/article\/kenbensinger\/michigan-kidnapping-gretchen-whitmer-fbi-informant\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">FBI&rsquo;s primary informant pushed the plot along<\/a>, eventually becoming the militia group&rsquo;s leader.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In a 2022 Senate hearing, Wray confirmed at least one agent involved in the Whitmer scandal was promoted instead of punished, going on to oversee prosecutions of those charged with crimes related to the Jan. 6 riot.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote 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>&mdash; 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> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<h2>5. Arrest of Dissident Reporter<\/h2>\n<p>Steve Baker, an investigative reporter for Blaze Media, was <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/01\/biden-regime-ratchets-up-its-authoritarianism-with-arrest-of-blaze-investigative-reporter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">arrested<\/a> by the FBI earlier this year without being told what his charges were because &ldquo;they believe[d] Baker [would] post them on social media.&rdquo; Baker was arrested after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theblaze.com\/news\/blaze-news-investigative-writer-steve-baker-says-fbi-wants-him-to-self-surrender-friday-in-dallas-over-his-jan-6-reporting?utm_source=theblaze-breaking&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=Breaking%20Baker%20Warrrant&amp;utm_term=ACTIVE%20LIST%20-%20On%20Any%20Current%20Sending%20List&amp;tpcc=email-breaking\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reporting<\/a> on demonstrations surrounding the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.<\/p>\n<h2>6. Obfuscating Russiagate<\/h2>\n<p>Wray spent his tenure as chief of the FBI covering up for the agency&rsquo;s misconduct related to deep state agents determined to indict Trump as a Russian agent. The FBI director <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/06\/08\/russiagate-redux-grassley-calls-out-fbi-for-leaking-false-narratives-to-obstruct-biden-investigation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rebuffed<\/a> congressional inquiries as the agency sought to dodge substantive oversight.<\/p>\n<h2>7. Infiltration of Catholic Parishes<\/h2>\n<p>In February last year, former Special Agent Kyle Seraphin&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.uncoverdc.com\/2023\/02\/08\/the-fbi-doubles-down-on-christians-and-white-supremacy-in-2023\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">revealed<\/a>&nbsp;that &ldquo;the FBI&rsquo;s Richmond Division would like to protect Virginians from the threat of &lsquo;white supremacy,&rsquo; which it believes has found a home within Catholics who prefer the Latin Mass.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The document assesses with &lsquo;high confidence&rsquo; the FBI can mitigate the threat of Radical-Traditionalist Catholics by recruiting sources within the Catholic Church,&rdquo; Seraphin reported.<\/p>\n<p>A new <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/08\/09\/unredacted-fbi-memo-contradicts-christopher-wrays-claim-only-a-single-field-office-targeted-traditional-catholics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">memo<\/a> released in August 2023 revealed multiple FBI field offices under Wray were involved in the surveillance of Catholics and contradicted the director&rsquo;s congressional testimony where he denied such investigations.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This new information suggests that the FBI&rsquo;s use of its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jonathan-emord-the-dhs-disinformation-board-and-the-attack-on-individual-sovereignty\/\" title=\"Jonathan Emord: The DHS Disinformation Board and the Attack on Individual Sovereignty\">law enforcement capabilities<\/a> to intrude on American&rsquo;s First Amendment rights is more widespread than initially suspected,&rdquo; House Republicans wrote in a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/judiciary.house.gov\/sites\/evo-subsites\/republicans-judiciary.house.gov\/files\/evo-media-document\/2023-08-09-jdj-mj-to-wray-re-catholic-dp.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">letter<\/a>&nbsp;to Wray. <\/p>\n<h2>8. Targeting Parents for Domestic Terrorism<\/h2>\n<p>Weeks before the 2021 Virginia gubernatorial election, in which parental rights in education were the centerpiece of Republican campaigns, the FBI deployed counterterrorism resources on parents who raised issues at school board meetings. Parents identified as extremists by FBI activists were labeled with &ldquo;threat tags,&rdquo; which House Republicans on the Judiciary Committee <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/03\/22\/house-judiciary-finds-biden-doj-had-no-legitimate-basis-to-target-parents-as-terrorists\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">found<\/a> had &ldquo;no legitimate basis.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Wray, however, was unapologetic about the scandal. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think the FBI conducted itself the way it should here,&rdquo; Wray <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/2189513\/wray-has-no-apologies-for-targeting-parents-fbi-acted-the-way-it-should\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> at a House hearing last year.<\/p>\n<h2>9. Prosecution of Pro-Life Christians<\/h2>\n<p>Wray <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/07\/24\/christopher-wray-says-fbi-does-not-target-peaceful-pro-lifers-the-stats-prove-otherwise\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">denied<\/a> allegations this summer that his agency was unfairly targeting pro-life demonstrators before the House Judiciary Committee.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think one of the things that gets lost &mdash; and I appreciate the opportunity to clarify &mdash; is that really, since the&nbsp;<em>Dobbs&nbsp;<\/em>decision, actually more of our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wray-says-fbi-doesnt-target-pro-lifers-stats-prove-otherwise\/\" title=\"Wray Says FBI Doesn\u2019t Target Pro-Lifers. Stats Prove Otherwise\">abortion-related violent extremism investigations<\/a> have focused on violence against pro-life facilities, as opposed to other way around,&rdquo; Wray said. <\/p>\n<p>The Federalist&rsquo;s Jordan Boyd, however, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/07\/24\/christopher-wray-says-fbi-does-not-target-peaceful-pro-lifers-the-stats-prove-otherwise\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a> that &ldquo;contrary to Wray&rsquo;s claims, only five of the 60<strong>&nbsp;<\/strong>cases brought under Biden&rsquo;s watch focused on pro-abortion extremists.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The other 55 targeted people who value life in the womb for <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/06\/19\/yes-bidens-department-of-justice-wants-to-imprison-peaceful-pro-lifers-for-praying\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">praying, singing, and evangelizing<\/a>&nbsp;at abortion facilities across the U.S.,&rdquo; Boyd wrote. <\/p>\n<h2>10. Vacation in the Middle of a Hearing<\/h2>\n<p>In November 2022, Wray <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/11\/17\/fbi-chief-wray-admits-ditching-hearing-for-vacay-on-bureau-jet\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">confessed<\/a> that he trimmed a summer appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee to vacation in the Adirondacks. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, had asked Wray to stay for another 21 minutes so lawmakers could continue to question the FBI director about a range of issues.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Senator, I had a flight that I&rsquo;m supposed to be high-tailing it to outta here, and I had understood that we were going to be done at 1:30, so that&rsquo;s how we ended up where we are,&rdquo; Wray <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/08\/07\/fbi-director-christopher-wray-is-guiding-the-agency-the-wrong-way-fast\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">told<\/a> the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee.<\/p>\n<p>Except Wray was flying private on an FBI plane. <\/p>\n<p>Grassley celebrated the news of Wray&rsquo;s exit on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Wray&rsquo;s departure is an opportunity for a new era of transparency and accountability at the FBI. Future FBI Directors ought to learn a lesson from Wray&rsquo;s mistakes,&rdquo; Grassley <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/12\/11\/us-news\/christopher-wray-announces-hes-stepping-down-as-fbi-director-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> in a statement. &ldquo;Stonewalling Congress, breaking promises, applying double standards and turning your back on whistleblowers is no longer going to cut it.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>11. Hunter Biden Laptop Cover-Up<\/h2>\n<p>Wray&rsquo;s corruption started long before President Biden&rsquo;s tenure. In 2020, Wray led the FBI as the bureau actively sought to undermine the legitimacy of the Hunter Biden laptop stories even after the agency had <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/24\/you-will-not-look-at-that-hunter-biden-laptop-johnson-whistleblowers-reveal-more-fbi-corruption-in-2020\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">verified<\/a> the hard drive&rsquo;s authenticity a <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2023\/06\/22\/fbi-verified-authenticity-of-hunter-bidens-abandoned-laptop-in-november-2019-irs-whistleblower-gary-shapley\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">year earlier<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mtaibbi\/status\/1603857534737072128?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Part six<\/a>&nbsp;of the &ldquo;Twitter Files&rdquo; detailed how Twitter was a conduit for the FBI to influence voters ahead of the 2020 election. The two were reportedly in &ldquo;constant and pervasive&rdquo; contact. The agency partnered with Twitter to suppress right-leaning content throughout the election cycle. That suppression still&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/03\/01\/twitter-bans-sen-mike-lee-after-sharing-federalist-article-criticizing-biden-foreign-policy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">continues<\/a> under Elon Musk&rsquo;s leadership.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShellenbergerMD\/status\/1604871630613753856?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Part seven<\/a>&nbsp;of the series, published by California-based Substack reporter&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/public.substack.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Michael Shellenberger<\/a>, illustrated how the FBI launched an operation to discredit the Hunter Biden laptop stories, which implicated then-candidate Biden in global influence-peddling schemes. The FBI even&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShellenbergerMD\/status\/1604890603468120064?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">arranged<\/a> security clearances for senior employees at Twitter and paid the company&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/12\/19\/fbi-reimbursed-twitter-for-doing-its-dirty-work-on-users\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$3.4 million<\/a>&nbsp;in taxpayer dollars.<\/p>\n<p>In August of 2022, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg went on Joe Rogan&rsquo;s podcast and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/26\/confirmed-fbi-colluded-with-big-tech-to-prevent-voters-from-learning-about-hunter-bidens-laptop\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">revealed<\/a>&nbsp;that the FBI prepped the company to write off the Hunter Biden laptop story as an instrument of Russian interference.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The FBI basically came to us and spoke to some folks on our team and was like, &lsquo;Hey, just so you know, you should be on high alert. We thought that there was a lot of Russian propaganda on the 2016 election. We have it on notice that basically there&rsquo;s about to be some kind of dump similar to that,&#8217;&rdquo; Zuckerberg said.<\/p>\n<p>Once the laptop stories broke from the New York Post, Facebook promptly suppressed their distribution on the platform.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think it was 5 to 7 days when it was basically being determined whether it was false,&rdquo; Zuckerberg said, without disclosing who was responsible for the network&rsquo;s &ldquo;fact-check.&rdquo; &ldquo;Fewer people saw it than would have otherwise.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>12. Refuses to Testify on His Way Out<\/h2>\n<p>Wray is capping off his tenure as FBI director by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/fbi-director-homeland-security-secretary-refuse-publicly-testify-senate-chairman-says\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">breaking<\/a> a 15-year tradition of testifying in an end-of-year hearing.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Tristan Justice is a national correspondent for The Federalist and the co-author of &#8220;Fat and Unhappy: How &#8216;Body Positivity&#8217; Is Killing Us (and How to Save Yourself).&#8221; He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com. Sign up for Tristan&#8217;s email newsletter <a href=\"https:\/\/socialjusticeredux.substack.com\/about\">here<\/a>. Buy &#8220;Fat and Unhappy&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/sz7EDAJI1c\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FBI Director Christopher Wray will resign in January<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":494,"featured_media":2379300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Wray.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[8049,36066,5591,46658,5191],"class_list":["post-2379299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-accountability","tag-christopher-wray","tag-fbi","tag-good-riddance","tag-leadership"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Wray.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2379299","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\/494"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2379299"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2379299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2379303,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2379299\/revisions\/2379303"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2379300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2379299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2379299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2379299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}