{"id":103721,"date":"2022-08-11T19:27:48","date_gmt":"2022-08-11T23:27:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/?p=103721"},"modified":"2022-08-11T19:27:53","modified_gmt":"2022-08-11T23:27:53","slug":"the-daily-gouge-archive-wednesday-august-10th-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/?p=103721","title":{"rendered":"The Daily Gouge Archive, Wednesday, August 10th, 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s Wednesday, August 10th, 2022…but before we begin, for anyone needing further proof the federal bureaucracy in general, and the DOJ\/FBI in particular,\u00a0is completely out of control, this account from the New York Post’s Miranda Devine of Chris Wray’s non-answerthon before the Senate…and his actions immediately afterwards…should be all you need, and then<\/em><\/span> some, as she observes…<\/strong><\/p>\n

FBI Director Christopher Wray is guiding the agency the wrong way, fast<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“Christopher Wray\u2019s disingenuous testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday, before he left early on the FBI\u2019s private Gulfstream 550 jet, speaks volumes<\/em><\/span> about the need to defund<\/em><\/span> the FBI \u2014 or at least dump its unctuous director<\/em><\/span>. Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley and his team of Republicans expected to have the chance to ask a second round of questions.<\/span> Grassley pleaded for just an extra 21 minutes.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

But Wray took an early mark, dismissing the committee\u2019s constitutional obligation to ensure he answers questions under oath to ensure the FBI complies with the law and is accountable to the American people.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

What was so urgent that he had to leave after just three and a half hours? Was he taking a long weekend in the Adirondacks where his family has a summer home?<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

…<\/span>On some of the most serious questions<\/em><\/span> of national security and the politicization of the FBI, Wray had nothing to say<\/span><\/em>. Like Mister Magoo, he sees nothing.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span>Unlike most<\/em><\/span> things on Capitol Hill these days, the politicization and repeated failures of the FBI are a bipartisan<\/em><\/span> concern.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In the short time they had with Wray, senators from both sides had urgent questions.<\/span> Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein<\/em><\/span> and Republicans Marsha Blackburn and Grassley were concerned about the FBI\u2019s botching of the Larry Nassar case. Why, when Nassar was convicted in 2016 of sexually abusing U.S. gymnasts, did Wray wait until 2021 to fire one of the agents involved in slow-walking the case?\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span>Grassley complained about a lack of transparency over why the Department of Justice<\/em><\/span> had decided a jury wouldn\u2019t convict<\/em><\/span> FBI agents for their handling of the investigation.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Other Democrats<\/em><\/span> were concerned about the FBI not investigating complaints about Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>Wray had no answer<\/em><\/span>, nor to questions about Afghan evacuees considered significant security threats after being brought to the U.S. in last year\u2019s bungled withdrawal from Kabul.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>\u201cI can\u2019t sit here right now and tell you we know where all of them are located at any given time,\u201d he said.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Wray refused<\/em><\/span> to classify the\u00a0flood of illegal migration<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/span>\u00a0at the southern border as a \u201cnational security threat.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>When asked what the FBI was doing to track down 56 suspected terrorists<\/em><\/span> that have crossed the border this year he waffled<\/em><\/span> about \u201csharing watchlist information\u201d and \u201cinvestigating any number of individuals.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

He refused<\/em><\/span> to admit that the Russia collusion hoax \u2014 in which the FBI treated seriously palpably false allegations that then-candidate Donald Trump was a Russian agent \u2014 was in fact<\/em><\/span> a \u201choax\u201d.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

He refused<\/em><\/span> to agree with Sen. Blackburn that\u00a0Hunter Biden\u2019s laptop<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0was not<\/em><\/span> \u201cRussian disinformation,\u201d and didn\u2019t respond<\/em><\/span> to whistleblower allegations of an FBI coverup of derogatory information related to the\u00a0Bidens<\/a>\u00a0in October 2020.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

He refused<\/em><\/span> to explain to Sen. Ted Cruz why the FBI had blacklisted patriotic historical American symbols such as the Betsy Ross flag, the Gadsden Flag and the Gonzales battle flag as \u201cmilitia violent extremism\u201d in training documents.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

When Sen. Josh Hawley asked why the FBI was \u201csnooping around the concealed carry permit records\u201d of Missourians, he had nothing<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

When Sen. Tom Cotton asked why no FBI agent had thought to enforce the law broken by abortion activists parading outside the homes of Supreme Court justices, Wray was impatient<\/em><\/span>: \u201cOur agents are up to their necks enforcing all sorts of laws<\/em><\/span>.\u201d (Yeah,…like a search warrant for Mar-a-Lago!<\/em>)<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

When the hearing ended at 1:30, Wray ambled over to Grassley to shake his hand. The microphones picked up some of the exchange.<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>Grassley, a courtly row-crop farmer from Butler County, Iowa, who has a shrewd Columbo-esque tendency to ask \u201cjust one more thing,\u201d leaned forward: \u201cI assume<\/span><\/em> you\u2019ve got other<\/em><\/span> business.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d said Wray.<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>And off he sauntered, minions in tow.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>Grassley\u2019s staff did not know where Wray was going after the hearing and FBI public affairs did not respond to an email Sunday by press time.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

But the luxury FBI Gulfstream Wray uses was recorded on Flightradar24 making the one hour and 12 minute flight later that afternoon to bucolic Saranac Lake<\/em><\/span> in the Adirondacks, which happens<\/em><\/span> to be a favorite summer destination<\/em><\/span> since his childhood, when he used to hike the High Peaks and fish for trout, according to the Adirondack Daily Enterprise.\u00a0<\/strong>The FBI\u2019s Gulfstream made another trip to Saranac Lake on Thursday, June 2, returning to Washington, DC on Sunday, June 5.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

While there has been controversy over the FBI director commandeering a plane originally intended for counterterrorism use<\/em><\/span>, Wray\u2019s predecessor James Comey<\/em><\/span> used it as his private conveyance as well.\u00a0<\/strong>The director is required to reimburse the cost of a coach class airline fare<\/em><\/span> for personal trips, a significant discount on the several thousand dollars an hour<\/em><\/span> it costs to operate the Gulfstream, which is considerably more convenient than Delta. (And what about the CO2 emissions?!?<\/em>)<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Wray ensured his testimony was useless, but if he did cut short his testimony to go on vacation<\/em><\/span> at a time when his agency is under fire from all sides<\/span><\/em>, then that is an act of disrespect and insubordination which requires a firm rebuke, or what is the point of Senate oversight?<\/strong><\/span>“<\/p>\n

All of which sorta begs the question…<\/strong><\/p>\n