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George W. Bush nominated Wray in 2003 to be the assistant attorney general
Posted on 8/9/22 at 8:51 am
Posted on 8/9/22 at 8:51 am
Mr. Wray began his law enforcement career in 1997, serving in the Department of Justice as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. In that role, Mr. Wray prosecuted a wide variety of federal criminal cases, including public corruption, gun trafficking, drug offenses, and financial fraud. In 2001, Mr. Wray was named associate deputy attorney general, and then principal associate deputy attorney general, in the Office of the Deputy Attorney General in Washington, D.C. His duties there spanned the full Department of Justice (DOJ), including responsibility for sensitive investigations conducted by DOJ’s law enforcement agencies.
Mr. Wray was nominated by President George W. Bush in 2003 to be the assistant attorney general for DOJ’s Criminal Division, supervising major national and international criminal investigations and prosecutions. He also oversaw the Counterterrorism Section and the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, which were part of the Criminal Division throughout his tenure (DOJ later consolidated those sections into the National Security Division).
Mr. Wray was a member of the President’s Corporate Fraud Task Force, supervised the Enron Task Force, and served as a leader in DOJ’s post-9/11 efforts to combat terrorism, espionage, and cybercrime with domestic and foreign government partners. At the conclusion of his tenure, Mr. Wray was awarded the Edmund J. Randolph Award, DOJ’s highest award for leadership and public service.
Mr. Wray was born in New York City. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Yale University in 1989 and earned his law degree from Yale Law School in 1992. He clerked for Judge J. Michael Luttig of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. In 1993, Mr. Wray joined the international law firm of King & Spalding LLP, where he spent a total of almost 17 years practicing law in the area of government investigations and white-collar crime. At the time of his nomination to be FBI Director, Mr. Wray was chair of the firm’s Special Matters and Government Investigations Practice Group.
LINK
Mr. Wray was nominated by President George W. Bush in 2003 to be the assistant attorney general for DOJ’s Criminal Division, supervising major national and international criminal investigations and prosecutions. He also oversaw the Counterterrorism Section and the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, which were part of the Criminal Division throughout his tenure (DOJ later consolidated those sections into the National Security Division).
Mr. Wray was a member of the President’s Corporate Fraud Task Force, supervised the Enron Task Force, and served as a leader in DOJ’s post-9/11 efforts to combat terrorism, espionage, and cybercrime with domestic and foreign government partners. At the conclusion of his tenure, Mr. Wray was awarded the Edmund J. Randolph Award, DOJ’s highest award for leadership and public service.
Mr. Wray was born in New York City. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Yale University in 1989 and earned his law degree from Yale Law School in 1992. He clerked for Judge J. Michael Luttig of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. In 1993, Mr. Wray joined the international law firm of King & Spalding LLP, where he spent a total of almost 17 years practicing law in the area of government investigations and white-collar crime. At the time of his nomination to be FBI Director, Mr. Wray was chair of the firm’s Special Matters and Government Investigations Practice Group.
LINK
3
Posted on 8/9/22 at 8:54 am to basionok
I wonder if when GWB goes out in public he senses that fewer people cheer him or like him, or if hes too insulated to notice
Posted on 8/9/22 at 8:58 am to SirWinston
His public appearances have been in full support of the Transition. I think he loves it that way.
This post was edited on 8/9/22 at 8:59 am
Posted on 8/9/22 at 9:05 am to basionok
Senior Staff
Deputy Director – Paul Abbate
Paul Abbate was named deputy director in February 2021. As deputy, he oversees all FBI domestic and international investigative and intelligence activities.
Mr. Abbate began his FBI career in March 1996 as a special agent assigned to the New York Field Office, where he worked in the Criminal Division and served as a member of the SWAT Team.
In December 2003, Mr. Abbate transferred to the Counterterrorism Division at FBI Headquarters as a supervisory special agent in the Iraq Unit, overseeing FBI counterterrorism operations and personnel deployments in Iraq. In October 2005, he deployed to Iraq, serving as senior FBI liaison officer to the U.S. Department of Defense and leading a group of FBI personnel conducting counterterrorism operations in-theater.
In February 2018, Mr. Abbate was named associate deputy director of the FBI, where he was responsible for the management of all FBI personnel, budget, administration, and infrastructure.
Associate Deputy Director – Brian C. Turner
Brian C. Turner was named the FBI’s associate deputy director in May 2022. He had most recently served as the executive assistant director of the Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch.
Mr. Turner joined the FBI in 2002 as a special agent and was assigned to the Philadelphia Field Office, where he investigated white-collar crimes and criminal enterprises and supported surveillance operations. In 2008, he deployed to Iraq to support FBI operational priorities in the region and joined the Counterterrorism Division Fly Team when he returned.
In 2018, Director Wray named Mr. Turner the special agent in charge of the New Haven Field Office in Connecticut. He was promoted in 2020 to assistant director of the Operational Technology Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington. OTD provides technology-based solutions to enable and enhance the FBI’s intelligence, national security, and law enforcement operations.
He was named executive assistant director of the Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch in 2021.
Chief of Staff – Jonathan Lenzner?
Jonathan Lenzner was named chief of staff to the Director in December 2021. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Lenzner served as the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland. As the chief federal law enforcement official in Maryland, Mr. Lenzner oversaw the investigation and litigation of all criminal and civil cases brought in Maryland on behalf of the United States. He previously served as the first assistant U.S. attorney and also created the office’s first-ever Civil Rights Unit.
Deputy Director – Paul Abbate
Paul Abbate was named deputy director in February 2021. As deputy, he oversees all FBI domestic and international investigative and intelligence activities.
Mr. Abbate began his FBI career in March 1996 as a special agent assigned to the New York Field Office, where he worked in the Criminal Division and served as a member of the SWAT Team.
In December 2003, Mr. Abbate transferred to the Counterterrorism Division at FBI Headquarters as a supervisory special agent in the Iraq Unit, overseeing FBI counterterrorism operations and personnel deployments in Iraq. In October 2005, he deployed to Iraq, serving as senior FBI liaison officer to the U.S. Department of Defense and leading a group of FBI personnel conducting counterterrorism operations in-theater.
In February 2018, Mr. Abbate was named associate deputy director of the FBI, where he was responsible for the management of all FBI personnel, budget, administration, and infrastructure.
Associate Deputy Director – Brian C. Turner
Brian C. Turner was named the FBI’s associate deputy director in May 2022. He had most recently served as the executive assistant director of the Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch.
Mr. Turner joined the FBI in 2002 as a special agent and was assigned to the Philadelphia Field Office, where he investigated white-collar crimes and criminal enterprises and supported surveillance operations. In 2008, he deployed to Iraq to support FBI operational priorities in the region and joined the Counterterrorism Division Fly Team when he returned.
In 2018, Director Wray named Mr. Turner the special agent in charge of the New Haven Field Office in Connecticut. He was promoted in 2020 to assistant director of the Operational Technology Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington. OTD provides technology-based solutions to enable and enhance the FBI’s intelligence, national security, and law enforcement operations.
He was named executive assistant director of the Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch in 2021.
Chief of Staff – Jonathan Lenzner?
Jonathan Lenzner was named chief of staff to the Director in December 2021. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Lenzner served as the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland. As the chief federal law enforcement official in Maryland, Mr. Lenzner oversaw the investigation and litigation of all criminal and civil cases brought in Maryland on behalf of the United States. He previously served as the first assistant U.S. attorney and also created the office’s first-ever Civil Rights Unit.
Posted on 8/9/22 at 9:12 am to basionok
I encountered him while at the DOJ, even had a sit down with him.
Zero personality.
Zero expression.
Somewhat dismissive in tone, you can detect that he has a sense of superiority.
You do get the sense that he feels he can do whatever the frick he wants.
He made a lot of money in Atlanta and DC.
Zero personality.
Zero expression.
Somewhat dismissive in tone, you can detect that he has a sense of superiority.
You do get the sense that he feels he can do whatever the frick he wants.
He made a lot of money in Atlanta and DC.
Posted on 8/9/22 at 11:20 am to LuckyTiger
Former acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell is warning that the FBI is facing a "real crisis" from partisan tampering with investigations, revealing he actually urged then-President Donald Trump to fire Director Chris Wray back in 2020 when such concerns first became obvious.
"I told President Trump we got to get rid of him," Grenell said Monday in an interview with Just the News on the John Solomon Reports podcast. "[Wray] was terrible. First of all, he didn't understand what was happening. He was so aloof to what was happening down below and had just a knee jerk reaction to everything just to protect the status quo."
Grenell made the comments just hours before Trump announced Monday the FBI raided his Mar-a-Lago home and office in Florida, cracking a safe and removing documents in an apparent probe into suspected missing classified documents.
Grenell, who also served as U.S. ambassador to Germany, said the reasons he urged Wray's dismissal two years ago were rooted in his inability to see politics ruining the storied law enforcement agency,
"He's a creature of the FBI," Grenell said. "And he views everything as a PR exercise. Don't criticize the FBI. Don't talk about any failures at the FBI because he loves the brand. And it was a brand exercise."
Ric Grenell told Trump to fire FBI Director Wray due to inaction during Russian collusion coverupRic Grenell told Trump to fire FBI Director Wray due to inaction during Russian collusion coverup
Several former Trump officials, including former Attorney General Bill Barr, reportedly learned the 45th president was contemplating firing Wray in 2020 and advised against it. Trump had already fired ex-Director James Comey for misconduct in the Hillary Clinton email probe back in 2017.
Grenell described an episode in spring 2020 when he was acting DNI and was trying to declassify documents about FBI misconduct in the Russia collusion probe and its pursuit of former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn, and there "was a lot of pushback."
He said FBI leaders told him frontline agents adamantly didn't want the memos declassified and released to the public because they would reveal investigative sources and methods.
"I said I'd like to talk to these FBI agents who actually redacted this information," he recalled. "And oh, boy, they did not want me to. But I did. I pushed through, and because I had the position, I was able to do it. I said, 'You know look, I'm about to release this information. But I'm asking you to tell me. If this is really a source or a method, point it to me. What am I missing here?'
"Did you know, John, that the FBI rank and file agents who did that said to me, 'We agree with you. We didn't redact this. Our bosses did.' And it was so obvious to me that there was a political manipulation from up top."
Grenell said the concerns about the credibility of the FBI have only worsened since, citing recent revelations from Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) that multiple FBI whistleblowers have come forward to allege improper political meddling in sensitive investigations. The allegations include launching an investigation of Trump without proper predicate and pressuring to shut a Hunter Biden probe by claiming legitimate evidence was "disinfirmation."
Wray said last week during congressional testimony he found the allegations "very troubling," but Grenell said the problems ultimately reside with Wray as the top leader who sets the tone for the bureau.
"The leadership is not willing to keep politics out," he said. "And that's the problem. We've got a real crisis when it comes to the leadership at the FBI and the leadership at DOJ. I do think that the rank-and-file folks are beginning to get sick of it. I know a lot of them. And they've been very nervous about the political payback that would come if they spoke up."
Kevin Brock, the former FBI assistant director of intelligence, said Grenell's account "strikes me as true, and it resonates that way" because of the bias and conduct exposed during the unraveling of the Russia collusion investigation. He singled out decisions made by former FBI agent Peter Strzok and former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
"We know that the case agent on the Michael Flynn case lobbied to get the case closed because he stated from the very beginning it didn't have substance, but he was overruled at that Strzok-McCabe level," Brock told the "Just the News, Not Noise" television program on Monday evening.
But the former FBI executive said there is lots of evidence the bureau is not rotten to its core, saying allegations that the entire agency is corrupt is a "leap even Evil Knievel wouldn't have made."
He cited the agents who have come forward as whistleblowers and those who tried to shut down the Russia probe when it lacked evidence or cause as proof there is still good across the agency.
But Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who chaired oversight hearings a decade ago into law enforcement corruption, said the excuses being offered today for blatant political weaponization of the federal government are simply not believable.
"Reminds me of the story of the child whose hand's in the cookie jar and mom says, 'Why are you taking cookies?' And he says, 'What cookies?' What's your what happened? That's where we are. The denials are so impossible to do anything but laugh at."
Issa said the current posture of the FBI failing to acknowledge its troubles for what they are means House Republicans need to move swiftly and decisively to conduct oversight starting in January if they win control of Congress and not let bureaucrats run out the clock."We need to be faster and more aggressive," Issa said. "We need to work with Judicial Watch and others, because they want to run the clock out on us for that next two years the way they did when I took control of the Oversight Committee" back in the Obama years.
LINK
"I told President Trump we got to get rid of him," Grenell said Monday in an interview with Just the News on the John Solomon Reports podcast. "[Wray] was terrible. First of all, he didn't understand what was happening. He was so aloof to what was happening down below and had just a knee jerk reaction to everything just to protect the status quo."
Grenell made the comments just hours before Trump announced Monday the FBI raided his Mar-a-Lago home and office in Florida, cracking a safe and removing documents in an apparent probe into suspected missing classified documents.
Grenell, who also served as U.S. ambassador to Germany, said the reasons he urged Wray's dismissal two years ago were rooted in his inability to see politics ruining the storied law enforcement agency,
"He's a creature of the FBI," Grenell said. "And he views everything as a PR exercise. Don't criticize the FBI. Don't talk about any failures at the FBI because he loves the brand. And it was a brand exercise."
Ric Grenell told Trump to fire FBI Director Wray due to inaction during Russian collusion coverupRic Grenell told Trump to fire FBI Director Wray due to inaction during Russian collusion coverup
Several former Trump officials, including former Attorney General Bill Barr, reportedly learned the 45th president was contemplating firing Wray in 2020 and advised against it. Trump had already fired ex-Director James Comey for misconduct in the Hillary Clinton email probe back in 2017.
Grenell described an episode in spring 2020 when he was acting DNI and was trying to declassify documents about FBI misconduct in the Russia collusion probe and its pursuit of former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn, and there "was a lot of pushback."
He said FBI leaders told him frontline agents adamantly didn't want the memos declassified and released to the public because they would reveal investigative sources and methods.
"I said I'd like to talk to these FBI agents who actually redacted this information," he recalled. "And oh, boy, they did not want me to. But I did. I pushed through, and because I had the position, I was able to do it. I said, 'You know look, I'm about to release this information. But I'm asking you to tell me. If this is really a source or a method, point it to me. What am I missing here?'
"Did you know, John, that the FBI rank and file agents who did that said to me, 'We agree with you. We didn't redact this. Our bosses did.' And it was so obvious to me that there was a political manipulation from up top."
Grenell said the concerns about the credibility of the FBI have only worsened since, citing recent revelations from Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) that multiple FBI whistleblowers have come forward to allege improper political meddling in sensitive investigations. The allegations include launching an investigation of Trump without proper predicate and pressuring to shut a Hunter Biden probe by claiming legitimate evidence was "disinfirmation."
Wray said last week during congressional testimony he found the allegations "very troubling," but Grenell said the problems ultimately reside with Wray as the top leader who sets the tone for the bureau.
"The leadership is not willing to keep politics out," he said. "And that's the problem. We've got a real crisis when it comes to the leadership at the FBI and the leadership at DOJ. I do think that the rank-and-file folks are beginning to get sick of it. I know a lot of them. And they've been very nervous about the political payback that would come if they spoke up."
Kevin Brock, the former FBI assistant director of intelligence, said Grenell's account "strikes me as true, and it resonates that way" because of the bias and conduct exposed during the unraveling of the Russia collusion investigation. He singled out decisions made by former FBI agent Peter Strzok and former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
"We know that the case agent on the Michael Flynn case lobbied to get the case closed because he stated from the very beginning it didn't have substance, but he was overruled at that Strzok-McCabe level," Brock told the "Just the News, Not Noise" television program on Monday evening.
But the former FBI executive said there is lots of evidence the bureau is not rotten to its core, saying allegations that the entire agency is corrupt is a "leap even Evil Knievel wouldn't have made."
He cited the agents who have come forward as whistleblowers and those who tried to shut down the Russia probe when it lacked evidence or cause as proof there is still good across the agency.
But Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who chaired oversight hearings a decade ago into law enforcement corruption, said the excuses being offered today for blatant political weaponization of the federal government are simply not believable.
"Reminds me of the story of the child whose hand's in the cookie jar and mom says, 'Why are you taking cookies?' And he says, 'What cookies?' What's your what happened? That's where we are. The denials are so impossible to do anything but laugh at."
Issa said the current posture of the FBI failing to acknowledge its troubles for what they are means House Republicans need to move swiftly and decisively to conduct oversight starting in January if they win control of Congress and not let bureaucrats run out the clock."We need to be faster and more aggressive," Issa said. "We need to work with Judicial Watch and others, because they want to run the clock out on us for that next two years the way they did when I took control of the Oversight Committee" back in the Obama years.
LINK
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