FBI director threatened to resign amid Trump, Sessions pressure - Polidicks

[url]https://www.axios.com/scoop-1516661397-877adb3e-5f8d-44a1-8a2f-d4f0894ca6a7.html[/url] [quote]Attorney General Jeff Sessions — at the public urging of President Donald Trump — has been pressuring FBI Director Christopher Wray to fire Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, but Wray threatened to resign if McCabe was removed, according to three sources with direct knowledge. Wray's resignation under those circumstances would have created a media firestorm. The White House — understandably gun-shy after the Comey debacle — didn’t want that scene, so McCabe remains. Sessions told White House Counsel Don McGahn about how upset Wray was about the pressure on him to fire McCabe, and McGahn told Sessions this issue wasn’t worth losing the FBI Director over, according to a source familiar with the situation.[/quote] Context: there was a report [url=https://www.axios.com/jeff-sessions-urged-fbi-boss-to-make-a-fresh-start-1516568533-ffd897ef-2dcc-4778-a935-c12b81417eb1.html?source=sidebar]yesterday[/url] that Sessions was pressuring Director Wray to fire McCabe, but it was unclear what Wray's response was. It's now come out that Wray told Sessions to fuck off and threatened to resign over it

This is going to sound really naive, but why would you threaten to resign your position when you, in that position, are the whole reason for being that road block for the 'bad guys'? Doesn't that just open it up for them to put their own yes-man in?

[QUOTE=Revenge282;53073376]This is going to sound really naive, but why would you threaten to resign your position when you, in that position, are the whole reason for being that road block for the 'bad guys'? Doesn't that just open it up for them to put their own yes-man in?[/QUOTE] yeah, these days if a certain position keeps resigning in protest it'll eventually be filled by someone who doesn't see anything to protest

[QUOTE=Revenge282;53073376]This is going to sound really naive, but why would you threaten to resign your position when you, in that position, are the whole reason for being that road block for the 'bad guys'? Doesn't that just open it up for them to put their own yes-man in?[/QUOTE] Wray actually [I]was[/I] appointed by Trump after he fired Comey. In this circumstance, resignation is the biggest card Wray can play, cus the last thing the administration wants is for Wray to quit and become the second FBI director to accuse this administration of potential obstruction of justice.

[QUOTE=Revenge282;53073376]This is going to sound really naive, but why would you threaten to resign your position when you, in that position, are the whole reason for being that road block for the 'bad guys'? Doesn't that just open it up for them to put their own yes-man in?[/QUOTE] Here's the issue though, Wray [I]was Trumps yes-man.[/I] First thing he did after being appointed was say that there was no evidence of collusion.

[QUOTE=Bob The Knob;53073424]Wray actually [I]was[/I] appointed by Trump after he fired Comey. In this circumstance, resignation is the biggest card Wray can play, cus the last thing the administration wants is for Wray to quit and become the second FBI director to accuse this administration of potential obstruction of justice.[/QUOTE] I feel like bad press doesn't really hurt this administration. They don't really need to operate on the public's good graces because they are in near full control for essentially the next couple of years. [editline]22nd January 2018[/editline] [QUOTE=S31-Syntax;53073427]Here's the issue though, Wray [I]was Trumps yes-man.[/I] First thing he did after being appointed was say that there was no evidence of collusion.[/QUOTE] But he's not on this instance, so what does resigning do to the administration (my above post considered) that would not be a benefit to them?

[QUOTE=Revenge282;53073433]I feel like bad press doesn't really hurt this administration. They don't really need to operate on the public's good graces because they are in near full control for essentially the next couple of years.[/QUOTE] The firing of Comey led to the appointment of Robert Mueller, which I'd say hurt this administration pretty badly. Can't speculate what would happen if Wray resigned under similar circumstances but it would be a big deal

[QUOTE=Bob The Knob;53073443]The firing of Comey led to the appointment of Robert Mueller, which I'd say hurt this administration pretty badly. Can't speculate what would happen if Wray resigned under similar circumstances but it would be a big deal[/QUOTE] You could kiss any extension beyond the current 3 week government spending bill goodbye without extra protections for Mueller first. The GOP's legislative agenda would grind to a halt, extra scrutiny would be placed on the White House, and that would be the media focus for a while right when primary season starts to kick off.

[QUOTE=Revenge282;53073376]This is going to sound really naive, but why would you threaten to resign your position when you, in that position, are the whole reason for being that road block for the 'bad guys'? Doesn't that just open it up for them to put their own yes-man in?[/QUOTE] Let's not forget that after the Saturday Night Massacre is when the whole impeachment train really started rolling against Nixon, and is the point in which a plurality of the American public supported impeaching him.

[QUOTE=Revenge282;53073376]This is going to sound really naive, but why would you threaten to resign your position when you, in that position, are the whole reason for being that road block for the 'bad guys'? Doesn't that just open it up for them to put their own yes-man in?[/QUOTE] Resigning like that is usually taken as saying "I can no longer serve the interests of this administration because my personal values are incompatible with what they want me to do." Intelligence agencies aren't like the Senate or Supreme Court. They're not meant to act in opposition, or as a check, to other parts of the government. That would mean the head of the FBI is essentially using the agency to promote his personal views with no mandate. The FBI or other agency actively working against the president (even if it is Trump) would be a much more worrisome sign. That would essentially mean they've gone off the rails and have no accountability. That would make all the "deep state" accusations actually valid. That said, when a director resigns like that it's usually a huge negative effect. It's essentially a big announcement that the administration is acting in ways that the director of the FBI finds impossible to tolerate.

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