White House Worried FBI Director Wray May Quit Over Memo Release

FBI Director Christopher Wray will issue a rebuttal if it is published, CBS News reported.

The White House is expected to release a controversial memo on Friday in a move that threatens to escalate tensions with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Democrats say Trump’s allies hope to use the memo to protect Trump, possibly giving the president, who fired FBI Director James Comey in May, an excuse to fire Deputy US Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who hired Mueller, or even Mueller himself. The party-line vote to release the Republican memo but not a Democratic response was a violent break from the committee’s nonpartisan tradition and the latest troubling sign that House Republicans are willing to put the president’s political dictates ahead of the national interest.

Why Does It Matter, and What Are the Major Arguments?

What are other possible consequences of the memo’s release? . Both parties have their reasons for arguing about what’s important in the memo.

Quigley added that obtaining answers from Nunes about his questions “have become all the more urgent and necessary” given Trump’s and his Republican allies’ sustained attacks on the credibility of the Justice Department, FBI, special counsel Robert Mueller, and the Russian Federation investigation. Now, despite strong opposition from the Democrats, all it needs is sign-off from the president to be made public.

He said there are only two reasons to oppose the memo’s release: if its contents are provably false or if it would imperil national security.

A spokesperson for the White House said President Donald Trump is close to deciding on whether or not to halt the House intelligence committee from releasing the classified memo. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray (who was appointed by Trump after he fired previous director James Comey) reportedly warned the White House that releasing the memo could set a unsafe precedent. The method for making it public is still being finalized.

Ryan, like others at the retreat, at the Greenbrier resort, stood behind House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes’ drive to release the document, which purportedly speaks to how a top-secret court was used to get a surveillance warrant in the Russian Federation investigation and other issues. One of the White House officials said the memo would be in “Congress’ hands” after Trump declassified it and there were unlikely to be any redactions to the document.

The memo was prepared by House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes, who says it shows the feds had a political agenda. “This action is not only unsafe, it is illegitimate, and violates House rules…” He called the charges “entirely false and politically motivated”. “Absence of moral and ethical leadership in [the White House] is fueling this government crisis”.

But, the memo states, that article was based on leaks from Steele, so it had no value as corroborating evidence.

We don’t know exactly.