Editorial written by New York Daily News Editorial Board.
FBI Director Chris Wray is resigning several years before the end of his statutory 10-year term for one, terrible reason: Donald Trump had promised to fire Wray when he’s sworn in as president next month and install the unqualified and unfit Kash Patel, a real disaster for justice.
With the exception of Trump, no president has ever fired an FBI chief without cause. Trump was the first to do so when in early 2017 he canned Jim Comey, who badly botched the on-again, off-again 2016 probe of Hillary Clinton’s emails (which was prompted by the seizure of sex offender Anthony Weiner’s laptop).
Trump made it clear that he wanted Wray out and was going to ignore the purpose of the 10-year term, meant to insulate the FBI leadership from presidential politics and elections by saying he was going to nominate Patel as FBI director before there was a vacancy.
Speaking on “Meet the Press,” Trump was asked: “Are you going to fire the current FBI director, Christopher Wray, who you appointed?” replying that “I can’t say I’m thrilled with him. He invaded my home. He invaded Mar-a-Lago.” No, only after Trump refused polite requests from the National Archives for government documents and then lied and tried to hide the classified records, were agents called to recover the boxes.
Wray decided on Wednesday that another firing like Comey’s was worse for the bureau than him just leaving. While very bad, the worst is having Patel, with his published enemies list of 60 people, as director.
Patel says that he is the “Government Gangsters originator,” claiming to have uncovered a conspiracy within federal law enforcement, which doesn’t exist.
On Thursday, just a day after Wray said that would soon quit, Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz debunked one of the major deep state conspiracies: that the FBI had undercover operatives in the mob that sacked the Capitol on Jan. 6. Not true, says Horowitz. There were no FBI employees at the Ellipse where Trump gave his speech, there were none among the crowd on the National Mall and there weren’t any who invaded the Capitol.
That’s the truth, but Trump still loves Patel and his lies, telling “Meet the Press”: “Kash Patel is very fair. I’ll tell you. I thought Kash may be difficult because he’s, you know, a strong conservative voice, and I don’t know of anybody that’s not singing his praises. Everybody respects him, and, you know, just like him, others also, I don’t know of one negative vote — I don’t think he’s going to have any negative votes.”
There are 100 Senate votes and it’s a real question if Patel can even get 50 Republicans. Compare that to Wray, who was confirmed with only five dissenting senators in an overwhelming bipartisan show of support. Which is why Joe Biden kept on Wray and which is why every president, again, but for Trump, has kept on the FBI director appointed by an earlier president.
Should, somehow, Patel be confirmed, is there anyone who thinks a future Democratic president, like Gavin Newsom or Josh Shapiro, would keep on Director Patel? The screaming “no” of an answer is why he must not be confirmed.
