President Joe Biden has confidence in FBI Director Christopher Wray and plans to keep him in his role, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Thursday.
Psaki raised eyebrows in law enforcement and intelligence circles on Wednesday when she declined to say in a newsletter whether Biden had confidence in Wray.
Psaki explained in a tweet on Thursday that her response “caused an unintentional ripple” and “wanted to state very clearly” that Biden intends to keep Wray in the post.
The Inspector General of the Department of Justice and other federal agencies are investigating how the FBI, Pentagon and other law enforcement agencies prepared themselves for security at the U.S. Capitol earlier this month, when rioters stormed in and disrupted the vote count. The FBI is investigating the attack.
Inspector General Michael Horowitz said last week that he would look in advance at the type of threat information available and how widely it is shared with U.S. Capitol Police and other law enforcement agencies.
Wray, who has more than six years left in his ten-year term, has no indication that Biden or his team were dissatisfied with him, a senior FBI official said Wednesday night, saying “the feelings shared were all positive. “
However, some influential voices were critical of the FBI’s response to the riot. David Lauffman, a senior Justice Department official during the Obama administration, said the FBI was supposed to stop domestic terrorism, and ‘it is not clear whether the FBI is using the urgent, national leadership needed to to maximize the protection of the Capitol. ‘
Wray and those around him had previously worried that he might be fired by former President Donald Trump, who publicly put him under pressure to act on certain investigations – such as announcing an investigation into Biden’s son Hunter Biden – and then expressed frustration that Wray did not follow his suggestions.
Hunter Biden announced in December that federal officials in Delaware were investigating his taxes, and a source familiar with the investigation said it was about his business dealings in China. The U.S. Attorney for Delaware’s office declined to comment on the investigation.
The Biden campaign also declined to comment when the investigation was announced. Hunter Biden was a target for relentless attacks during the campaign of Trump and his allies, who claimed to have used the influence of his father to enrich himself through business deals in Ukraine and China.
These transactions came under scrutiny throughout the campaign, but no evidence showed that he or his father was illegally engaged. During the campaign, he promised that he would not work for companies abroad if his father won the presidency.
