On Monday, FBI Director Christopher Wray defended Special Counsel Robert Mueller against the “witch hunt” accusation.
Trump-appointed FBI Director Christopher Wray tells Congress (again): “I do not believe special counsel Mueller is on a witch hunt.”
— Ryan Lucas (@relucasz) June 18, 2018
Kind of striking, considering that “witch hunt” is the president’s favorite way to describe the ongoing probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said the probe–started by the FBI and now run by Mueller–was fueled by Democrats angry they lost the campaign. Wray, who Trump nominated to lead the FBI, isn’t co-signing that claim.
The FBI Director appeared Monday before the Senator Judiciary Committee to talk about the DOJ Inspector General’s report on how the FBI handled the Hillary Clinton email investigation. The investigators had some pretty bad things to say about Wray’s predecessor. James Comey, who Trump fired in May 2017, announced the FBI’s recommendation on no charges, but without coordinating with the DOJ, the report said. He may have violated regulations, and improperly acted with the election on his mind. Some of Comey’s critics said his move to announce the reopening of the criminal investigation in October 2016 sabotaged Clinton’s chances at the presidency, but Trump pointed at the new IG report as evidence that certain FBI officials were biased against him.
The IG Report totally destroys James Comey and all of his minions including the great lovers, Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, who started the disgraceful Witch Hunt against so many innocent people. It will go down as a dark and dangerous period in American History!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 16, 2018
The Mueller investigation is ongoing. His team is reviewing not just Russian interference in the 2016 election, but also suspected collusion involving the Trump campaign.
[Screengrab via CBSN]
