Latest in Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Christopher Wray took the oath of office at the FBI yesterday and thus started the clock ticking on a difficult problem he’s going to have to address: the fate of his deputy, Andrew McCabe.
In an interview with the New York Times, President Trump yesterday issued a stunning vote of no-confidence in basically everyone currently in a leadership position in the Justice Department, the FBI, or the special counsel’s office.
The president’s power to remove the director serves as an important check on abuse of power.
Following President Trump's detonation of the checks and balances that previously maintained law enforcement independence, it is worth revisiting post-Watergate congressional proposals to give greater independence to the FBI.
Starting at 9:30am this morning, the Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a confirmation hearing for Christopher Wray, President Trump's nominee for FBI Director. Follow the livestream and keep up with Lawfare's liveblog below.
Wray's prepared remarks are available here.
Christopher Wray will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee this week as the committee considers his nomination to be the new Director of the FBI. Here are twenty questions I urge senators to ask Wray.
While Comey was a controversial figure in the larger political system and among Justice Department officials, he was not a controversial figure at the FBI at all. Nearly everyone loved him.
Quick reactions to the appointment of Robert Mueller as Special Counsel to investigate L'Affaire Russe.
The idea of appointing a partisan political figure of any kind to run the FBI under any circumstances should be unthinkable. In the current moment, it must be understood as nothing less than a dangerous corruption of federal law enforcement.
Two major faults have compromised the FBI’s development. The first is its lack of a defined mission. Second, the Bureau’s conceptualization of national security has not kept pace with the United States’ needs.