Summary

FBI Director Christopher Wray announced he will resign three years early, a move widely seen as bowing to political pressure from Trump.

Critics argue Wray’s resignation undermines the FBI’s independence and normalizes Trump’s governance style, allowing him to replace Wray with a loyalist who may prioritize Trump’s interests over the rule of law.

Wray’s decision avoids the potential political fallout of being fired but forfeits a chance to publicly challenge Trump’s grievances against the FBI, raising concerns about the erosion of institutional integrity.

  • Jesus@lemmy.world
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    14 days ago

    Wray is a registered Republican that worked under Bush and was appointed by Trump. What did people think he was going to do?

    His daily dose of Fox News isn’t telling him to stay.

    • lennybird@lemmy.world
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      14 days ago

      To Wray’s credit, he testified that right-wing extremists were the #1 domestic terrorist threat.

      If he was a Trump yes man, they would’ve just had him stay in. In reality, it’s probably closer to him just preserving his job prospects in the private sector and a bit of cowardice not dissimilar to Mueller and Comey.

        • lennybird@lemmy.world
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          13 days ago

          No I wouldn’t say a wash, personally. If you knew you were going to be under the purview of a Trump DOJ AG and they’d make your life a living hell, sure some might be able to resist for a little but you wouldn’t actually be able to do much. Trump can fire him anyway.

  • BillDaCatt@lemmy.world
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    14 days ago

    I’m pretty sure this is all about his pension. If he retires now, before Trump takes office, there isn’t much that can be done to take his pension away from him. If he stays on and Trump fires him for cause, he will likely get nothing for retirement.

    • masterofn001@lemmy.ca
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      13 days ago

      Glad he gets some money in exchange for what will likely result in the loss of lives of many and freedom for everyone.

      Good guy.

          • Deceptichum@quokk.au
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            13 days ago

            There aren’t good men in the FBI or any other enforcement institution to begin with.

            • Windex007@lemmy.world
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              13 days ago

              That’s true, but even if he sat in his seat and did nothing it’d still be better handing it to a Trump loyalist. Squatting in that seat he can do more than 1,000,000 people writing scathing tweets.

            • masterofn001@lemmy.ca
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              13 days ago

              Most of the good ones will be afraid of doing anything ‘bad’. Many of the (even remotely) good ones in a position to do good are outing themselves as only willing to do good for themselves.

              The good ones that will or would do something are probably already on a list compiled by the tech bros.

              Obi-wan, you’re our only hope.

        • masterofn001@lemmy.ca
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          13 days ago

          I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White citizens’ “Councilor” or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can’t agree with your methods of direct action” who paternistically feels that he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a “more convenient season.” Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

          An excerpt from a Letter from Birmingham Jail

          Dr. Martin Luther King jr April 16, 1963

    • kandoh@reddthat.com
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      13 days ago

      James Comey would still be eligible for the Federal Employees Retirement System as a federal employee, despite being fired from his FBI director position - so Wray would be too

  • 4grams@lemmy.world
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    14 days ago

    The institutions are collapsing faster and faster each day. This is going to be an absolute shitshow.

    • 1985MustangCobra@lemmy.ca
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      13 days ago

      I wish we didn’t have a housing crisis in Canada or id be more open to getting Americans out of there to live somewhere safer at the moment. I’m truly scared for you guys down there and I don’t know what I can do to help.

      • espentan@lemmy.world
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        13 days ago

        Americans know how to build, you have room… invite them up, provide supplies, build a few new cities.

        And yes, I realize it’s a bit more complicated than that.