Yesterday’s hearing with FBI Director Christopher Wray was another maddening experience of faux contrition and open evasion. Wray apologized for violations that have already been established by courts or Congress (often over the best efforts of the FBI). However, on ample public evidence of new violations, Wray continued to use his favorite testimonial trilogy to dismiss any questions: expressing (1) lack of knowledge, (2) ongoing investigations, and (3) promises of later answers or briefings. He did, however, hold forth in detail after Rep. Eric Swalwell asked him about FBI Family Day. Despite the near total lack of substance, Wray did make one surprising denial. He insisted that the FBI does not engage in censorship efforts, focuses only on “foreign disinformation,” and does not pressure companies to censor others. Those denials are not only directly contradicted by the recent 155-page opinion of a federal court and the Twitter Files, but a new release from the Twitter Files and journalist Matt Taibbi.
Wray said that “…The FBI is not in the business of moderating content, or causing any social media company to suppress or censor.” He then added that these companies are not under any pressure in making their own decisions whether to censor people or groups flagged by the FBI.
The statement is obviously false. The FBI maintained a large operation of agents actively seeking the censorship of thousands, as discussed in my prior testimony.
Taibbi, however, has released another example of how aggressive the FBI was with social media companies. In the latest Twitter Files release, there is one email exchange where Twitter “immediately” suspended accounts flagged by the FBI without investigation.
Taibbi explained:
“In one shot, you can see the FBI asks to remove three accounts, that gets forwarded to Twitter, Twitter immediately suspends them, the accounts. But more importantly, when there’s a glitch, and the accounts remain up, the FBI immediately writes back and says, what’s the deal? We just wrote to you, why is it still up? So, that shows the nature of the relationship basically that it’s not really a collaboration. It’s much more like somebody reporting to an authority.
… [W]hat happens in these instances in the ones that I was showing, they’re just forwarding names of accounts that they say are associated with foreign threat actors. It’s very vague. And Twitter is taking them down before they even investigate. In this case, they later determined that they couldn’t find anything connecting them to any bad actors. In fact, one of them was from Canada. And so, that’s the problem. If it’s not connected with a crime, they’re just asking to take accounts down because they don’t like the profile of them.”
We also have hundreds of emails that show the FBI and other agencies targeting individuals for a wide array of disinformation, misinformation, and malinformation. The latter category is truly Orwellian. It covers true statements that can be used for a misleading purpose.
The latest email does not suggest that the FBI was the passive, helpful agency portrayed by the Director. For most people reading the email, it sounds like it is my Wray or the hard Wray.
Director Wray still hasn’t apologized to the over 1 million people wrongly placed on 9/11 blacklists. More than 20 years later, based on terrorism-conviction rates, Wray knows the vast majority on these blacklists are totally innocent.
Instead of apologizing, Wray had his FBI agents move in next door to some of these innocent Bush war crime victims – possibly to silence and intimidate his victims.
Good people and good leaders, with fidelity to their Oath of Office, apologize when they destroy innocent people. Wray needs to walk-the-walk and apologize to these people.
The whole premise of our constitutional rule of law system and those claiming to support “Law & Order” is to look back at “past” crimes and abuses. The U.S. Constitution is not a “Preemption Doctrine” – it can’t legally be used to blacklist or punish persons that might commit a future crime – it’s designed for past crimes and past abuses.
If Wray is a good loyal public servant to his Oath of Office, he could today undo the highly illegal and unconstitutional “Bush Preemption Doctrine” and hold the Bush torture attorneys accountable.
The Bush DOJ was the lead agency “renaming” centuries old torture techniques, that the United States itself had prosecuted others during World War Two for.
Low level torture interrogators at CIA and DOD didn’t attend America’s best law schools and most aren’t bar certified lawyers. The Bush DOJ lawyers are the most culpable not the interrogators following their guidance.
Wray could gain much credibility by holding those disloyal to their Oath of Office accountable, ending the 20+ year blacklisting campaign (worst form of torture still happening today) and making whole those that were loyal to their Oath of Office, like CIA official John Kiriakou, NSA official Thomas Drake and many others. Bush systematically dismantled the internal whistleblower system so things that were legal to do in 1999 were illegal after Bush was in office – creating a figurative explosion in leaking.
Wray could easily do this if he supports his Oath of Office and the American constitutional “Law & Order” system. Even most Trump voters don’t support the Bush Administration’s “Preemption Doctrine” – now likely being used against some Trump supporters.
The American Justice system is designed to look at “past” crimes and abuses within statutes of limitations. War crimes like torture and cruel treatment have no statute of limitations. Bush’s disloyalty to his Oath of Office and violating Ronald Reagan’s Torture Treaty may have created an incentive for Trump’s alleged law breaking.
Wray could regain much credibility simply by holding those Bush torture attorneys accountable. Most war crime indictments happen 20-40 years after the war crimes were committed – if not now, when?
Chill out.
While you are right about many things – there is such a thing as the Statute of limitations.
Further it is laughable to pretend that any of this is unique to Bush or Republicans.
As Tulsi Gabbard will remind you repeatedly if you listen – though both parties have their share of conscience less war mongers. Hillary Clinton is the greatest war monger of our lifetime. Possibly our entire history.
Lest we forget the Partirot act was incredibly bipartisan.
Tyrants throughout history left and right have counted on whipping up fear and hatred to persuade us to willingly surrender our precious rights.
I will be happy to join you in condemning a long long list of government misconduct. Ruby Ridge, Wacco,
and on and on – if you wish to add Guantanamo to the list of shameful deeds of the US government – amen to that.
But we are way past that now. We should not be prosecuting conduct during the bush administration any more than we should try to prosecute Cain for the murder of Able.
I thought he would be better prepared. He knew the questions that would be asked. He didn’t even admit to fully reading Judge Terry A. Doughty’s July 4th injunction! If he did not, as he says, only reviewing it with Legal advisors, it reveals his own self righteous elitism.
Wray is oen of the worse eaxamples of the liars within government but there are many others as well. OUr governemtn is totlly couurited ti the ciore and w cannot beleiev nyhtign thy tell us as they are he poblem nit ny oart of any solution.
My advice, get rid of all these liars as quickly as possible and cut the government in half at a minimum. Nothing will be harmed at all , in fact it will make everthing far better !
He wasn’t prepared because he could care less and nothing will come of it. I’m surprised he wasn’t buffing his nails.
Wray was brought in to clear an FBI that was an obvious political mess under Comey.
He has FAILED. If anything things are WORSE.
Without judgement on Wray as a person – as FBI Director he has FAILED – and he MUST GO.
I would note the same is true of Garland.
These are BOTH people I was given reason to beleive had integrity and could be trusted to meet out the law blindly.
That is most dramatically NOT the case. They must go.
I feel exactly the same about AG Barr. He promised to clean up DOJ and FBI – whatever his good intentions he FAILED.
Don’t forget Mueller. He cost taxpayers $100 million in wrongful conviction settlements tied to the Bulger case he supervised in Boston. (CBS news write-up managed to omit his name). Quite a coincidence he was brought in one week before 9/11 and the presser where Rumsfeld admitted $1 Trillion unnaccounted for in DoD budget. (Bulger was disposed of by assigning him to site where he was gotten rid of, a never-discussed aspect of the federal prison system (Epstein cases much more common than realized). He followed this up by totally botching the anthrax investigation, convicting Hatfill in public (cost the taxpayers another $5 milliion for defamation) before blaming a dead scientist (but no investigation why a crazy guy had access to anthrax).
Those who like “root of it all” examinations may go to the Solari site of Catherine Austin Fitts where she publshes the only forensic accounting of the missing Pentagon money, it is extremely troubling. But no more than the FBI saying they could not find the bullet in the Vince Foster case.
The decay has been in place for a long time. I’m with Bongino, pull the plug and re-constitute from scratch. We can’t trust these people.
There is a long list of F#$K ups by the FBI long before Wray and Comey.
What is new is the partisan political nature.
The FBI has ALWAYS protected its power and perogatives, but it MOSTLY avoided the use of that power for partisan – as opposed to institutional political purposes.
That changed starting with Obama accelerating under Trump and worse still under Biden.
I have no problem with almost entirely eliminating the FBI. There is very very little of what they do that can not be done by the sates.
Further it has become incredibly clear that the FBI is massively abusing its counter intelligance role and blurring that with its law enforcement role.
The CIA and NSA are not supposed to be allowed to spy on americans. Most of us understand how dangerous that is.
Bjut it is far more dangerous for the FBI – that can lock you up forever to spy on you.
The CIA can bug your phone but it can not go to a bank and deemand your financial records without your knowing.
I am no fan of the CIA oir NSA – but the FBI is more dangerous.
Why is it the FBI’s business to police “foreign disinformation” on social media or anywhere ?
While the US first amendment does not protect foreign govenrments or people operating outside the US,
the principles underlying the first amendment DO apply universally.
There is only One entity that MUST be silent in US elections – and that is the US government.
Russia, China, France are entitled to a voice – though not a vote in US elections – and the american people can decide how much weight to give that voice. Americans routinely get news – often news and opinion from Foreign media sources – like RT, Al Jezera, The Guardian. the Daily Mail and Sky News.
If Russia or Chine wishes to speak regarding US elections – I want to hear. Though I likely will do the opposit of what Xi or Putin wish.
When the Russian Collusion narrative was being pushed and everyone was crying about Russians influencing our elections I asked, How? If it was hacking into election machines, other cyber subterfuge I would be concerned. A fake Facebook post, an easily squashed rumor, an opinion, seemed more nuance than crime.
I asked if any acquaintance’s vote was changed because of the influence. They all said no, then continued spouting their Russian election fears. Fascinating….
Unfortunately, it would have to be Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice who would prosecute him.
So maddening to watch Christopher Wray, hater of anything conservative, anathema to virtue. A truly disgusting individual.
I would like to “enlighten” Mr. wray, in an old fashion one on one interview.
Count all Patriots IN!
Chrissy wrong Wray is so crooked he needs a corkscrew to put his pants on each morning
Wray has no personal commitment or affiliation with the truth. If he had a modicum of honesty, he would quit playing games and simply in light of the evidence against him, from reliable sources and other authorities, and plead the Fifth. His arrogance when confronted with the historical accounts of his misdeeds and those of his subordinates in the FBI, cements in the minds of all rational observers he is completely unfit for his office. Perhaps this is the intent of the interviewers from the committee? Because expecting Wray to admit his to his lying leads to nowhere.
The FBI is the KGB to the DNC.
Wray is a scumbag of the highest degree.
B-but…but…they did it voluntarily, they say…
Just like the FBI voluntarily sent Twitter 1.0 $3 million “to reimburse them for their inconvenience”. It’s pretty likely they voluntarily sent even more to Facebook and Instagram, but of course, they ain’t talking..
Those are taxpayer dollars paid out to censor individual taxpayers – over politics.
I was yelling at my TV the whole time “Liar!”
Wow. My list of a-hholes that need to get gone is getting bigger and bigger. Soon I will need a software program just to manage it.
The Secret Service has announced that despite the White House being one of the world’s most secure structures, with extensive security, video footage of all people entering and leaving, checkpoints, facial recognition scans, physical guards, checkpoints that verify government issued photo ID and keep a log of all guests and tours, and myriad other measures, they are unable to identify who left cocaine at the White House, have no hope of solving the crime, and have closed the investigation.
What if it was a deadly toxin? Are we to believe that it would be a hopeless crime to solve if someone had left a deadly poison or device? Neither Sherlock Holmes nor Agatha Christie could put the case back together again?
“The Secret Service has announced . . .”
So this administration is admitting that it cannot keep felonies from happening at the WH, and it cannot solve them when they do happen.
At best, this is gross incompetence.
@SAm; “So this administration is admitting that it cannot keep felonies from happening at the WH, and it cannot solve them when they do happen.”
But thyey can discern the motives and intentions of millions of Trump supporters and Scholl board attending parents as being nefarious insurrectionists and domestic terrorists just by their social media posts and associations.
Well no….that’s because the ss have access to everyone’s medical records per hippa.. …. and that’s how they read minds. But as far as jurisdiction Ikn….I think they still prosecute counterfeit coins/money. But someone like Wray must have the mantel for wh drugs. But it could literally be a no man’s prosecutor’s land like some fed parks. I’ll keep reading on it.
They still haven’t found the SCOTUS leaker [Free Clue! start in India]
How why india?India?? Did some one on scouts tell their India Dr Buda something in their medical record? Oh my. Or werre English readers in India proof reading books?
The name Wray shall always bring to mind the villainous character Andrew Wray in the Patrick O’Brian nautical series. He was a highly placed British official who was engaged in treasonous espionage for the French, for money. He had a gambling addiction and a standard of high living, and was perfectly willing to betray the country for his own benefit and ideological goals.
The comparison seems apt here.