A Cowardly FBI Director Clears the Path for Trump's Takeover
Christopher Wray sneaks off into the night.
Fascist takeovers are facilitated by multiple acts of cowardice. Like little cuts, one after another, until the body is covered with hundreds and the blood loss becomes so substantial that medical attention is required, the cowards think that the decision to fight him no longer won’t really matter in the big picture: “Let someone else fight him off. I have a nice life and a lot of money. It’s time to get working on those 1000-piece puzzles.”
Good luck with those puzzles, Director Wray. While you are off at what I am sure is just the most picturesque homestead, tucked somewhere safely in the mountains of Virginia — one of those communities that are protected at the expense of taxpayers by unseen satellites and creeping snipers — we will be dealing with the repercussions of your infidelity to the Constitution. You gave an oath to protect and serve, and nowhere in that oath does it offer an escape hatch for you to take the easy way out, sir.
You are a lifelong Republican, so we have next to nothing in common; but from what I can tell, you have done an outstanding job leading the bureau. James Comey left it a mess, and it was more a reflection of his insecurities and unfulfilled aspirations than it was the nation’s leading law enforcement body. If Joe Biden was happy with your job, I am happy with it. Biden understands these things in ways few of us can, and that’s why he will go down as one of our nation’s best presidents.
Here is what you said when you decided to retire from the bureau preemptively, thus clearing the way for Kash Patel.
When Wray announced that he was stepping down, three years short of completing his standard 10-year term, he poignantly confessed his regret: “It should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway — this is not easy for me (A Scandalous Resignation).”
Wray went on to say a lot of text-book blah-blah-blah about how he wants the hardworking agents not to be distracted as they do their good work for the nation (blah-blah-blah). Buried deep in between those words and probably echoing in the heads of those hardworking agents was, “And so you think leaving us covered in salt and pepper tied to the spit will sate the wolf, how?” When Patel heard about the “preemptive compliance” of Director Wray, I am more than certain his mouth filled with saliva and the mere thought of the gory feast he would soon be voraciously ripping into.
Chris Wray was a block, albeit a temporary one. He had three more years in his term, and while it does seem likely Trump would have fired him, that removal from office would not have happened immediately. Given all of the tearing down of our nation’s institutions Trump and his Brownshirts have planned, there is a chance Wray could have survived for a while; long enough, at least, for the FBI and the rest of us to have figured out how and where we must fight back against the onset of authoritarianism.
By offering to leave immediately after Biden’s last day, the most powerful law enforcement body in the land has been handed over to Trump, and the road to “End Democracy Exit” is lined with nothing but green lights.
Imagine how the media would have been all over the removal of Director Wray in Trump’s second term. It would have been a scandal that could have slowed Trump’s march toward authoritarianism. With Wray voluntarily stepping aside, the media will view this as a new president merely filling a vacant role. The light that would have been shined on Kash Patel’s nomination just dimmed, dropping from 5000 lumens to 250 (a refrigerator bulb).
Um, Director Wray, thanks, ahhh, thanks for everything, pal. Enjoy the puzzles (douchebag).
Actually by resigning before he could be fired, Wray just checkmated Donny.
David French suggests in the New York Times that Wray’s resignation may have been an act of defiance against Trump, a "fuck you" that may not be immediately apparent to the naked eye. We don’t know if he’s right or not — read through his Bluesky post and the comments below it to suss it out for yourself — but the general gist is that if Wray had stayed on and waited for Trump to fire him, Trump could theoretically have gotten Kash into a position where he’d be eligible to be appointed as acting director while Wray was still emptying out his desk, skipping the Senate altogether. It has to do with the Vacancies Reform Act, which governs who is eligible to be appointed as an acting. Kash currently doesn’t qualify in any way.