Hawley torches exiting FBI director Wray for multiple scandals, abuses, in bureau ‘dark chapter’

Christopher Wray’s impending departure as FBI director will put a wrap on “one of the darkest chapters in the bureau’s history,” according to Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley.

Fox News Digital lists the five biggest scandals under Wray – without even mentioning the FBI’s still-shadowy role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol incursion or Wray’s failure to clean up the historic debris from “Crossfire Hurricane” – the Democrat attempt to smear President Trump as a treasonous Russian asset.

Wray will leave at the end of Biden’s term next month with a scorched backside, if he gets anywhere near Hawley’s fiery farewell.

“This has been one of the darkest chapters in the bureau’s history,” Hawley says in an exclusive interview with The Lion on Thursday. “What happened under his tenure? Well, the FBI lied regularly to FISA courts, the secret courts to get wiretaps on political opponents. Right there, that should be enough to introduce a major host of reforms at the FBI. But it gets worse. 

“Christopher Wray presided over the FBI recruiting informants into Catholic parishes. He sent SWAT teams to the homes of pro-life demonstrators. He worked with the biggest tech companies in the world to censor American speech on COVID, on DEI in schools. 

“And of course, that’s before we even get to the targeting of Donald Trump and the attempts to keep him off the ballot so that Americans wouldn’t have a choice in the election. 

“It’s just, it’s unbelievable and it’s dangerous. It’s really dangerous. It’s a good thing Wray is gone. He should have been gone years ago. And now we need a reformer at the FBI who’s going to restore the rule of law at that institution.”

Asked what he thinks is the worst thing Wray has done, Hawley is hard-pressed to limit himself to just one.

“Oh, there’s so much to choose from,” he says. “Out of all of those that I just listed, I mean I’m not sure what is the worst. Recruiting people to spy on parishioners at churches, that’s pretty darn bad. Sending the FBI to knock on the doors and harass parents who went to school board meetings and asked about COVID masking policies – I mean, that’s unforgivable. 

“Lying to a court to get wiretaps on your political opponents is unbelievable. 

“I mean, we could just go down the list. All of them are horrible. And the thing is, nobody has been fired for any of them! You think about this: The FBI, at least at the leadership level, has been out of control for years now. And nobody’s been fired for it, and nobody’s been held accountable. That’s got to change.”

Wray’s measured, often elusive testimony before House and Senate committees has been frustrating at times to say the least, Hawley says – though in this instance, he can cite one instance in particular.

“Well, my favorite is when he left a Senate Judiciary hearing – an oversight hearing that he is required by law to attend. He left it early – as it turns out, to take a taxpayer-funded private jet to the Adirondacks to take a private vacation. I confronted him about that later when I got the facts on it.

“And that is indicative of what his leadership at the FBI, so-called, has been. It has been self-serving. It has been self-seeking. And it has been really fiddling while the FBI has burned. While that institution, once the greatest law enforcement institution in the world, has become a plaything for the Biden White House and the Democrat Party, Chris Wray has stood by and watched it happen, and in some cases actively helped it along.”

Hawley is at least encouraged after recently meeting Trump FBI nominee Kash Patel, a former federal prosecutor and senior advisor to the Director of National Intelligence during Trump’s first term.

“We talked about the FBI at length,” Hawley recounts. “And he promised me that he would reform the FBI, that he would restore the rule of law, he would get it back into the business of going after criminals. You know, that’s why the FBI exists, let’s remember: to go after violent criminals and keep the American people safe. That’s what they should be doing. 

“And he promised me he would get the FBI back into the business of doing that. So, listen, I think he’s going to be a great nominee. I met with Pete Hegseth, Pam [Bondi]. I think these are people who are committed to implementing President Trump’s agenda and reforming these institutions to get back to their core mission of serving the American people.”

While Bondi’s nomination to be attorney general seems assured, Hegseth has run into headwinds – even among Republican senators such as Joni Ernst of Iowa, whom conservatives have absolutely savaged for appearing to oppose his confirmation.

Are conservatives right to have done so? Hawley won’t exactly say, except to honor their frustration with the status quo.

“Listen, I can certainly see why people are frustrated,” Hawley says. “When the president wins a decisive election victory, there is so much work to do in turning around this government – the abuses that Joe Biden has perpetrated while he’s been president. And people want to see results, I think. And that’s the message that I take away, from the election itself and also from the weeks since then. People want to see results. 

“And I’ve just said to my Republican colleagues up here, listen, if you’ve got questions for these nominees, that’s totally fine. I’m meeting with them. I’m asking them really substantive questions, tough questions in many respects. I think that’s all fine. But I would just urge them: Don’t oppose these people until you’ve heard them, at least. Meet with them. Let them go through the confirmation process. Ask them questions. Let them answer the questions.

“I hope that that’ll be done for every single nominee. And I think as people hear from the nominees, they’re going to be really encouraged.”