the comey firing was still the. >> president trump has fire james comey as director of the fbi. >> it is an unusual move that hasn't happened since the administration of bill clinton. >> a day after james comey testifies on capitol hill, he fires the director of the fbi currently leading an investigation into the president's campaign. >> when i decided to do it, i said to myself, you know, this russia thing with trump and russia is a made-up story. >> trump is nominating christopher wray as the new fbi director. >> wray was his pick to replace comey, and he went through a heck of a lot through that decision, ensuing investigations, but wray is not good enough for second term trump . that is a sign, a type of partisan admission. the very person he picked doesn't fit with what they want to do now as he publicly vows retribution as he vows to pardon people who attacked police officers and tried to kill lawmakers. republican and democratic alike, as if there should be any such distinction. so what we are going into his very clearly as bad as what they tried to do last time and worse becau

that was actually the very first time comey ever met trump.er that first meeting trump clearly thought this was a guy he needed to keep close to him pause three weeks later comey says he was summoned to the white house for a one-on-one dinner with trump. here's how comey described that dinner. trump said, quote, i need loyalty i expect loyalty. to my mind the demand was like sumy the bull's induction ceremony with trump in the role of the family boss. asking me if i have what it takes to be a made man. i did not and would never. i was determined not to give the president any hint of assent to this demand, so i gave silence instead. and that moment described in detail in his book and then also testified to it at that dinner, was kind of the beginning of the end for james comey. because over the next several months he would keep investigating, trump keep pushing back, and eventually trump fired him. trump also admitted why he fired him on live on television. >> regardless of recommendation i was going to fire comey. knowing there was no good tim

president trump firing fbi director james comey. the bombshell announcement, something that was completely unexpected to anyone, came just moments ago. a stunning development. it is lost on no one that the president just fired. the man who is leading an investigation into the trump campaign and whether it colluded with russians. >> that russian investigation angering trump in his first term after he left office, raised fbi, searched mar-a-lago. you see it there. they were looking for these classified documents that they allege trump took with him when he moved from the white house back to florida. that search, a significant part of why trump has turned on a director. he appointed. listen to how trump praised wray then and why he disdains him now. >> i believe that we will have a great fbi director. i think he's doing really well and we're very proud of that choice. i think i've done a great service to the country. well, i can't say i'm thrilled with him. he invaded my home. i'm suing the country over it. he invaded mar-a-lago. >> he

not a republican version of the comey fbi. joining me now to discuss cnn's chief media analyst, brian stelter. brian, good to see you. first, i just want to get your take on all of this. >> i think this wall street journal editorial speaks to the frequent divide within the cnn ranks. maga loyalists, maga influencers have been ecstatic about kash patel for the past 24 hours. absolute joy about this appointment whereas more old school republicans right establishment types like wall street journal editorial writers, they are the ones more cautious, more concerned. right now, this is a very familiar divide. i would say lately in the new trump era. we've been seeing the maga loyalists win, and the journal editorial board types lose, but not every time. of course, we remember the matt gaetz episode just a couple of weeks ago. >> yeah, yeah. and some of the concerns here stem from this interview which was from 2023. kash patel saying he'd go after journalists if appointed to a role in the trump administration. we can listen to that w

comey after he lost faith injames comey, and i think what is interesting is that if you look at theem from the rest of politics, and yet again what you've seen here is the fbi director effectively being dragged into politics. what is trum - dragged into politics. what is trump saying _ dragged into politics. what is trump saying about - dragged into politics. what is trump saying about this? - dragged into politics. what is trump saying about this? he | dragged into politics. what is - trump saying about this? he has called it a great _ trump saying about this? he has called it a great day _ trump saying about this? he has called it a great day for- called it a great day for america and he said it would end the weaponisation of the us department of injustice. he is effectively double down on his criticisms of the fbi, and again his criticism of their raise on mar—a—lago, but worth noting he was actually charged with offences around mishandling of classified documents, ultimate leave those charges were set aside by a special prosecutor after donald trump won election, because of the

comey handled an investigation of hillary clinton. the world knew that that was a lie, the world knew that donald trump loved the way james comey investigated hillary clinton and made huge news about that investigation in the weeks and days leading up to the 2016 presidential election. today, fbi director christopher wray, who was appointed by donald trump 7 1/2 years ago, announced in worldwide meeting with fbi agents that he would make it easy for donald trump. christopher wray decided to save donald trump from having to put another lie in writing about why he was firing another fbi director. the fbi released a full transcript of what christopher wray said and the fbi released a partial video of some of what the director said. director wray told the fbi today, quote, i want to address a topic that has been the subject of a lot of speculation and that is my future as fbi director. since the moment i started in this job seven plus years ago, my focus has been on trying to do what i think is best for our institution, the bureau, and ul

comey? >> because i believe that mr. comey is a good man, and i think he did his job well, and i don't think he deserved to be fired. >> when you fire probably arguably the most respected person in america, you'd better have a very good explanation. and so far, i haven't seen that. >> you don't buy the clinton email explanation that he mishandled the clinton emails. that's why he was fired i don't believe that that is sufficient rationale for removing the director of the fbi, but they claim they had a reason back then for firing james comey, even though they didn't seem to be the legitimate reason. but there's really no reason for getting rid of christopher wray right now coming into the trump administration. >> if you talk to conservatives, social conservatives, the people who've wanted who've said that the media is soft on the fbi during a democratic administration, their argument is, well there are different targets that we don't talk about. look at the pro-life groups that are being investigated by this fbi. we turn

wray was appointed to succeed comey as fbi director.ars that wray won't be able to serve out his ten-year term, an outcome he has been preparing for since trump won the election according to reporting by nbc news. now, this is just the latest episode that demonstrates how district trustful, paranoid and frustrated has been of the law enforcement arm of the federal government since he first entered office. >> in 2016, i declared i am your voice. today i add, i am your warrior, i am your justice, and for those who have been wronged and betrayed, i am your retribution. i am your retribution. i will fire the unelected bureaucrats and shadow forces who have weaponized our justice system like it has never been weaponized before. sick. these are sick people. >> now, trump has been in search of people loyal to him to lead these department and shield him from future investigations. as he reiterated on the campaign trail, he also wants revenge. and in order to do that he needs someone to help him build the legal apparatus, and he might have found

the way it was when donald trump fired james comey back in 2017.oment for people at the fbi. and some people still haven't gotten over it. comey was a very popular director. chris wray is a popular director. so that was the calculus. historians will second guess because the argument on the other side is wray could have made donald trump fire him to underscore that this is a norm shattering moment. that this is the second fbi director that donald trump has pushed out before serving the ten-year term, undermining the whole idea of a ten-year term that's supposed to be independent of politics. but that was not the way chris wray decided to do it. it was a tough decision for him. he's got plenty of money. he doesn't need to go back into private practice. he was enjoying himself. at the same time, he spent years trying to keep the bureau out of partisan politics, but during the biden administration when the trump investigation surfaced, there was no way to do that. and chris wray approved the search of mar-a-lago and donald trump never forgot that and b

see, once again, once upon a time, trump asked james comey for his loyalty. he didn't get the answer he wanted, we know that. at this time, though, he is making absolutely sure that never happens again. joining me now is democratic senator sheldon whitehouse of rhode island, he sits on the judiciary committee and he has thought about these questions a whole lot. so, senator whitehouse, let me just start here, i kind of just made my own case for the dangers of the loyalty trump engenders. i know you have thought about this a lot, did you disagree with any part? what did i miss in my overview there? >> well, i would start with the question that chris ray must be asking, which is where is the gratitude? he provided complete cover for a fake investigation by the fbi of brett kavanaugh's sexual escapades, and now all he gets -- now all he gets is ushered out the door. one thing to be looking for, i think, in the future, is trying to figure out what sticks i might have been offered to christopher wray to get him to violate the term of office that he accepted when h

so did the house judiciary committee's got a lot of that, a lot of that portfolio goes to james comeychairman of the oversight committee. but boy, they got to get them back on track. and restore the confidence in the american people. and i think by and large, the workforce is going to be just thrilled that donald trump's the president. pam bondi, is the attorney general. and you got a competent house and senate that is in republican hands. i think that gives them a lot of confidence. >> and you may have a new fbi director. you worked on secret service reform when you were in congress. what can and should congress do there? move it back to treasury? what should be done with secret service? >> we looked at it for more than two and a half years, issued a 450 page report, looked at more than 150 incidents. and there's some basic things that have to happen. most people think of the service secret service as a protective agency. most of their mission is actually dealing with currency and making sure that credit card fraud and whatnot. so i would take the protective mission and focus on that

trump tried to get james comey to quash the prosecution, when he failed, he fired comey which put his deputy, andrew mccabe in charge of the bureau. he launched investigation into trump's politically motivated firing of comey. trump replaced him with christopher wray, a guy that he had high hopes for. >> you had people, the new head of the fbi, i think i have done a great service for this country. i think that christopher will do a fantastic job as the head of the fbi. nobody has greater respect for intelligence than donald trump. but you have to have the right leaders, i think we have great leaders right now. >> he looks 20 years younger. it is easy to forget now, that was all a huge scandal when it happened, precisely because of the history, context, this does not happen. now as trump prepares to settle back in behind the resolute desk with about two explicitly turned the country into something post-democratic, he wants to obliterate the norm he broke by replacing the fbi director he hired. >> reporter: sir, are you going to fire the current fbi director, christopher wray, you appoi

. >> and that was comey and then wray, right, were the two?but then there was a series of actings as you may recall, andrew mccabe. >> mccabe, yeah. >> before chris wray was, you know, nominated and confirmed. the interesting thing is, so here we are talking about, you know, fbi directors are appointed for ten-year terms. it is a post-watergate reform which was very purposeful to make sure they extend through multiple presidencies, yet mr. trump his first term fired james comey and has already announced he is going to fire his own appointee, christopher wray. the first term, you may recall, it was widely i think believed that the reason for firing james comey was because of the russia investigation, the investigation you mentioned was the initial cause of all of the grievances that kash patel i think has now latched on as his grievances, too. but then there was an effort to sort of paper over that with a memo that the deputy attorney general wrote actually talking about when james comey came out during the campaign in the summer and made publi

and trump got rid of james comey and then robert jacobson we were hoping that we would set this righton track and unfortunately they did not do that, they did not hold those accountable that had distracted with the fbi they were never held accountable, he comes in and it continues and continues to get worse, under this biden administration ray really was listening to merrick garland do whatever he said and whatever it was political we were taking orders from d.o.j. and the trust of the american people, they do not trust the fbi and i tell you half of the fbi really does not trust the fbi internally, what needs to happen they needed new director to come in their internally to the employee say we are broken i realize there's a lot of people doing amazing work at the fbi but there's a portion that is run the reputation for the entire organization and this must stop now not just to gain the morell of the fbi employees but want to go internally and say we have a problem, christopher wray continues to testify before congress over and over say everything is great at the fbi, nothing to see h

the russia investigation angered trump, and he fired james comey. now it's this investigation into trump. the classified documents, really, that i mean, he was already mad at chris wray, but but that was really a huge part of this. and it's just notable given, you know, typically fbi directors would not be pushed out before they're before their term, i think before james comey. it only happened one time. >> only one time, william sessions. and that was really the result of an investigation that had begun under the republican administration of george bush, and then kind of got handed off to the clinton. the results of which got handed to president clinton after he was inaugurated. so, yeah, the things that cost chris wray and james comey, their jobs were not wrongdoing was not corruption, was not a failure of performance. it was a failure to exhibit the requisite amount of loyalty that donald trump demands. and in kash patel, he's found the perfect fbi director for donald trump. the question is because he's got kash patel has that loyalty in spades.

he got rid of all the comey leadership that i think led to the really awful actions that comey took around the 2016 campaign, and that's why i advocated back in 2016 to president-elect trump that he should have gotten comey right away. think about this. in the bureau, george, over the last seven years that chris has been in charge, the applications to become a special agent in the fbi have tripled. they're the largest they have been in 50 years. it's because he restored a sense of integrity to that position, and i think what the president-elect is doing is turning this into just any other position that gets changed with administrations, and i don't think that's good for our homeland security. >> george: and what's your assessment of kash patel? >> i don't know him at all, but i saw him give one interview where he said he wanted to eliminate the intelligence capability of the fbi. as u.s. attorney, i worked on two major terrorism cases that we brought against a person trying to broker them to a terrorist group in new jersey, and those who were planning on attacking and killing american serv

there's a lot of criticism from from the previous leadership of the fbi, james comey, and the way how he handled the office, especially when donald trump first took office in the in the first term. so inside the fbi, chris wray has been seen actually a very as a as a very thoughtful, as a very quiet leader, someone who is trying to restore the reputation of the of the fbi. that has obviously not worked out that well for especially among republicans who have been very critical of a number of things, including, of course, investigations of donald trump. the mar-a-lago search is something that donald trump himself raised in his interview over the weekend with with nbc. so there's a lot of concern because you have heard from kash patel, who is the the incoming president's pick to run the fbi next. you've heard that they're planning to try to they want to go after the former president. the president's political enemies. and so inside the fbi, there's a lot of concern that the bureau is going to be turned essentially to go after trump's enemies and take its eye off the ball on things that a

the director comey provided him with four of the seven memorandum. director comey's actions clear violation of nondisclosure agreements he signed as a condition of his appointment and a clear violation fbi protocol regarding dissemination of sensitive information outside in march 2018 from fbi director was fired by attorney general jeff sessions who noted deputy director lacked candor including under oath on multiple occasions and had partaken unauthorized disclosure to the news media. among other violations are in the report issued by the office of the ig offer a wide reaching investigation into deputy director mccabe's conduct. a myriad of d.o.j. personnel have been fired or demoted or have been resigned. fbi director comey come deputy director mccabe, chief of staff to the director james fbi general counsel james baker fbi agent stroke, counsel page, and for special agent josh campbell, d.o.j. senior official assistant attorney general to trauma comply with several related document request by congress. providing members of congress heavily redacte

. >> oh, and there's james comey. will you please?e famous than me then fbi director james comey awkwardly greeting then president trump in trump's early days in the white house after comey said he had tried to blend in with the blue curtains so he wouldn't be noticed. >> soon after taking office, trump pressured comey to drop an investigation into former national security adviser michael flynn. comey claimed trump put the squeeze on him personally. >> i got the sense my job would be contingent upon how he felt. i conducted myself and whether i demonstrated loyalty. >> trump denied asking for comey's loyalty, but ended up firing comey, later saying he was frustrated over the ongoing russia probe. >> he wanted that investigation shut down. he saw it as a political problem and this was what comey was up to by naming his new fbi director kash patel, a vociferous critic of the bureau. >> trump is making a controversial choice. >> i'd shut down the fbi hoover building on day one and reopening the next day as a museum of the deep state. >>

office, fire comey., of course, much later and everything blew up. but then he got christopher wray in. why was -- why did trump -- and then some republics like chuck grassley in the senate, sour so much on wray? >> yeah. i mean, a big part of it, paul, was what dan just said. while wray did come in and a lot of the bad actors that were under comey ultimately left the agency, it was done quietly, you know? they were allowed to retire with grace. there was never this moment where he stood up and said, look, this was atrocious behavior. it doesn't reflect on the rank and file, but there were people in the top offices that were abusing their positions. we're not going to have that happen again. that was one thing. the other thing is that every single time congress then attempted to conduct oversight into any number of fbi scandals that have come up in the years, i mean, everything from the supposed targeting of catholics to more information about what happened in that 2016 russia collusion situation, they w

would need to fire christopher wray, whom he appointed to head the fbi in 2017 after firing james comey? well, you know, it's interesting. there's already some backlash. and then there's already some people coming out and saying they plan to support him, including republican senator bill hagerty, who i interviewed on the program this morning. kira, who says that he plans to vote for kash patel. he thinks that he's going to bring about the change that the fbi needs. on the other hand, you have someone like the former attorney general, bill barr, who wrote in his book. he doesn't think kash patel has the experience to even serve as deputy fbi director, which trump considered in his first administration. so o there artwo sides of the coin here. the question is this is another big test for republican senators. they already sunk the nomination of matt gaetz. will they stand up to trump a second time and are there enough no votes? basically, he can only afford to lose three. are there four people who are going to vote no. so a lot of questions remaining as we track what happens on capitol hil

look at james comey and the mistakes he made. ask the clintons today about what he did and how he elected donald trump. if you look at what happened afterwards, there still a dossier, which we said from the very beginning, was nonsense. the carter page apps. they screw up. they are human beings. but there are people like republicans in the fbi and who like democrats in the fbi. in trump world, running around saying -- it's absolutely ridiculous. they have short-term or long- term memory loss. they don't know what it is now. it was the fbi. it was james comey who gave donald trump basically a life raft to paddle to shore and win the election 10 days before. it was over. until james comey did what he did. >> i think you might have heard about that from bill clinton a few days ago. when i sat down with the president. that lingers. >> they do not forget. >> is another interesting element to this. it is a little bit of blowback on the pressure campaign that's being brought on senate republicans. you have people like lisa murkowski com

they say the fbi's abuses under comey were the worst since j.documented by the justice department ig and they referenced the special counsel, john durham. fisa officials lied to get a warrant against trump campaign official carter page. they lied about disinformation in the steele dossier, which was financed by the clinton campaign. but they reference john bolton, who told our jake tapper over the weekend that trump has nominated kash patel to be his lavrenty beria, who is of course, the head of joseph stalin's secret police. and he says the senate should reject this nomination. 100 to 0. the journal argues, okay, the senate really has to look at this. what do you think is the future for kash patel? >> i'm watching two people on the house, on the senate judiciary committee, john cornyn and chuck grassley. chuck grassley has already spoken. he said, of course, the justice department needs to be reformed. of course we have to have major changes. kash patel has to explain to the senate how he's going to do it. i want to see his plan. john cornyn al

he came to be the director in 2017 after then-president trump fired james comey. that is when chris wray was nominated and confirmed by the senate. he has been in that role now for several years typically, fbi directors serve out those ten year terms and are not at the whim of whichever president may be in power. joining us now, democratic congressman john garamendi of california. congressman, thanks so much for being here with us. i first just want to get your reaction to this breaking news. we're getting tonight it's very, very troublesome throughout the entire campaign, people said, oh, he's just talking that's just political rhetoric. >> as trump said, i am your retribution and the revenge agenda. >> and now we're seeing it play out, not just not only with this nominee for the fbi, but also for the military. >> you take a look at all of the appointments they are part of a strategy that the president has laid out to put in place his campaign promises, which is retribution to seek revenge on his political enemies. >> and in his own words. >> mr. patel has made i

and jim comey. so he is coming in and. >> i mean, it's so absurd. it's just so preposterous and you have christopher wray backing out to make it easier. >> this is the fear is that it's a conspiratorial world view throughout the book and exaggerate his achievements and experience and it's -- it serves the political messaging that trump likes to hear and part of it is performative, does he believe it or not is this how you get ahead in that inner circle. but he is now going to be possibly the head of the most powerful law enforcement agency in the country. and has access to tremendous amounts of secrets, that americans have again hoover abused that,. >> yeah. >> and so it's -- that's what surprised me in my conversations was much, much fear about what kash patel will do with the fbi than what pam bondi will do at doj. >> i am curious what we heard here is reflected in the thoughts on capitol hill. you've got another of different nominees like pete who pete hegseth who he is unqualified, these are just facts, and he's behaved in ways that may disquali

listen, if you look at james comey and chris wray, there has never been a period in our nation's historyre the fbi has suffered a greater loss of respect, where more americans doubt the fundamental integrity of the fbi, and it's because james comey and wrist wray presided over allowing the fbi to become a partisan cajole to be used to target parents at school board meetings, to be used to target people who chose not to take the covid vaccine, to be used to target president trump and to target the political opponents of joe biden and the white house. it is tragic, that is not what the fbi is for, that is not what the doj is for. i've got to say pam bondi and kash patel, i think together, are a very strong slate of nominees to go and restore integrity to both institutions. >> how do you place that up against the prosecutions of bob menendez, a congressman, a democrat from texas and hunter biden? are those political prosecutions as well or not? >> well, first of all, let's be clear, bob menendez was literally caught with gold bars and a stack of cash and his fingerprints taking bribes. at t

and it's because james comey and chris wray presided over allowing the fbi to become a partisan cudgel, to be used to target parents at school board meetings, to be used to target people who chose not to take the covid vaccine, to be used to target president trump and to target the political opponents of joe biden and the white house. it is tragic, that is not what the fbi is for. that is not what the doj is for. and i gotta say, pam bondi and kash patel together are a very strong slate of nominees to go and restore integrity to both institutions. >> how do you place that up against the prosecutions of bob menendez, a congressman, a democrat from texas, hunter biden? are those political prosecutions as well or not? >> well, first of all, let's be clear. bob menendez was literally caught with gold bars and a stack of cash with his fingerprints taking bribes. it's why he's not my colleague anymore. at that point, the evidence was overwhelming. look, major, i wrote an entire book entitled justice corrupted, how the left has weaponized the legal system. it broke down, it started sadly unde

james comey was investigating russian interference in the election.e time trump said wray was a model of integrity and guarding of the lot. since trump and republicans have soured on the fbi. they called it the deep state. including kash patel, he called it the deep state. he said he wants to fire multiple people across the fbi. amna: you talk to multiple current and former law enforcement officials including from the fbi. how are they responding? laura: multiple officials said they are disappointed but not surprised. multiple people said christopher wray should have stayed in the role and forced trump to fire him because they believe that would have more maintained in the bureau's independence and showed it is not partisan and this is a role that is separate from the president. a current official said the big question is what role will politics play in the fbi now and how they conduct investigations? amna: what happens next? laura: the current deputy director at the bureau, he is next in line to become the acting director of the bureau. that is if pr

it was an enormous scandal in 2017 when donald trump fired then fbi director james comey before comey had finished his term. at least back then though, there was pushback from republicans. now it seems this kind of behavior has been normalized and trump is clearly signaling he wants to replace christopher wray. what do you make of the fact we typically appoint fbi directors for longer terms? >> so, we did these were ethic statements that were put in place after watergate to make it so that the fbi director did not serve the same term as a president, right, that it was longer term. and not reliant on elections. that was an anti corruption move so the fbi would have some kind of freedom, right, from political, from politics. that was the ethos of it. look, you know, patel is a really, is really so typical for this kind of maga loyalist, right. he is, it's very much this project 2025 ethos. you want to destroy the federal agency you are tasked to run. right. we heard him say he wants to make it a museum of the deep state. i wouldn't, i would say that i think the most important thing here

trump having fired james comey and now wanting to fire christopher wray. i think really uh, is very disruptive to the orderly management of the fbi and to jurisprudence in america. i mean people have to be able to rely on the fbi for being a neutral source of investigation of and of jurisprudence in america. and i just think all of this upends that. and americans really need to be very careful about supporting these kinds of appointments. and the disruption they're going to lead to and, congressman, i have to ask you about the other big news of the morning. >> president biden pardoning his son, hunter, something that he said over and over again, he would not do something that the white house said over and over. he would not do. what is your response to that i have a mixed response. >> as a father myself and as someone who knows joe biden, i can sympathize with his perspective that his son was, you know, subject to vigilante justice. i certainly witnessed that in republican depositions of hunter biden and his attorney but having said that, what other father

i mean, someone who writes a children's book with trump as king, as comey as this villain. how do you expect this is resonating within the bureau? this announcement yeah victor, i would say probably not. >> well, for good and obvious reasons. and i think as as much as i'm happy to say, i have not read that book it i think it does in a way, shed some light on one of the dangers of this nominee and that is that he is someone who really the only thing you can say about kash patel is he's gone out of his way to cater to donald trump's whims, whatever those might be, whether it's discrediting fbi work, whether it's perpetuating lies about the russia investigation, the investigation of potential ties between donald trump and his campaign in 2016 to the russian government whether it's perpetuating lies about the 2020 election. the one thing that kash patel has proven time and time again is he is there as a facilitator for donald trump, period. and he from the title of this book that he's written, clearly thinks of him more as a king than a president. i think that's a dangerous per

and trump tried to get james comey to quash it. and that put andrew mccabe in charge of the bureau. trump then replaced mccabe with christopher wray, a guy he had high hopes for. >> i think the new head of the fbi, i think i've done a great service for this country. i think christopher will do a fantastic job as head of the fbi. nobody has greater respect for intelligence than donald trump. >> the guy looks 20 years younger. >> it is easy to forget now what that was all a huge scandal when it happened. and now, as trump prepares to settle back in behind the resolute desk with a vow to explicitly turn the country into something post-democratic, he wants to obliterate the norm he broke by replacing the fbi director he hired. >> sir, are you going to fire the current fbi director, christopher wray, who you appointed? >> i can't say i'm thrilled with him. he invaded my home, i am suing the country over it. he invaded mar-a-lago and i'm very unhappy with the things he has done and crime is at an all- time high. migrants are pouring into the country that are from prisons, i cannot say i'm

that said, oh, mccabe and comey and these guys were great, and kash patel and gowdy are wrong. you know, how many times zero, zero times has that happened? and i bet i've had dozens and dozens and dozens across this country of fbi agents begging for this, for this agency to get cleaned up. and i think that's what kash patel will do on that point. >> same question for both of you, trey. i'll let you go first. my hope is the fbi. we can return it to its former greatness. and that is the world's premier law enforcement organization. it has lost its purpose. it has lost its way. it has been politicized. and in many ways, i would argue, weaponized. am i wrong? and can can we be successful in doing that? >> the fbi is unrecognizable to me right now, sean. i mean, some of the best years of my life, my favorite job was being a prosecutor. as you know, i love working with you, but my favorite job was being a prosecutor. i don't recognize that much anymore. so chris, ray, devin was there. chris wray was told you can be part of the cleanup crew or the cover-up crew. so i don't know why he

donald trump, of course, fired james comey in 2017, and he appointed chris wray chris wray still had three more years left on that ten year term. but some of that consideration, i think, changed over the last few days. you started seeing republicans in congress. chuck grassley, for instance, sending a letter saying that he lacked confidence in chris wray and the fbi leadership. that is part of what you see, maybe changing the calculation here for the fbi director yeah. >> no doubt. evan, thank you so much. stand by for us, if you would. let's go to kristen holmes, who is live near mar-a-lago. what's the reaction like coming from inside of trump's circle? kristen? >> well, brianna and boris, we just got a statement from donald trump on truth social. moments ago, where he is essentially celebrating the resignation of christopher wray. unsurprisingly, he says the resignation of christopher wray is a great day for america as it will end the weaponization of what has become known as the united states department of injustice. obviously, we've heard him say this before. i just don't know wh

>> jim comey lisa page peter strzok andy mccabe in russia collusion hoax hired a foreigner christopherput together fake documents took to court to spy on presidential campaign did all that kash patel chairman ninees helped us understand, what they were doing but started with comey what happened chris way did not change things just kept i want going along, that is the problem. and why you -- always about leadership, always about leadership, what leaders changed attitude summer we need a change kash is the guy to do it. >> you mentioned you raced a new report how federal government weaponize bank secrecy act to spy, you said biden-harris administration federal law enforcement worked with financial institutions to gain unchecked assess to private financial data fbi manipulated the suspicious activist report in process why spying on ordinary american citizens' bank accounts. >> we learned about it when we had a whisper come forward tell us that fbi sent a message email to bank of america saying any debit card tread card transactions on january 5, 6, 7, 2021 d.c. area we want that informati

while trump could fire wray just like he did comey, wray's presence with questions about patel making it through a tough confirmation hearing presented a possible alternative. he told his staff he would resign at the end of biden's term in january. we are now one step closer to patel and his self-described enemies list running america's principle american law enforcement agency and domestic intelligence service. now, if you weren't concerned already, then this is when you really should start to pay attention. especially at patel's enemy's list in addition to his clear lack of qualifications and you should worry. because history has shown how dangerous it is when the power of the fbi is misused. that history starts with this guy. j. edgar hoover. the man whose name actually aborns fbi headquarters. and who built the bureau in his image. who led the fbi 48 years and maybe be the most influential unelected bureaucrat in american history. he served under four democrats and four republican presidents he was very ideological conservative and as he grew, the bureau and its powers began to us

that wasn't trump, that was james comey before it was robert chris wray chris wray. but james comey mucked up hillary clinton's electoral run and he he he went after the president, president trump in his first term that in 2017, president trump could not he was like he stepped in dog crap and he just couldn't get rid of james comey. he hounded him. another guy. dog metaphor. but i think the fbi needs a cleansing. and i think christopher wray was heroic in in stepping down. but i also think that the bureau does need some profound introspection, heroic in stepping down. >> oh, yeah. >> i mean, look, are you going to wait for donald trump to come in and be humiliated and be fired? if you're chris wray? no, i mean, he absolutely had to do it this way. as for kash patel, i mean, trump thinks he's going to end the growing crime epidemic, dismantle criminal gains, stop human and drug trafficking. he also, though, has said that he's going to get rid of all the conspirators who he calls journalists, who were part and parcel to the 2020 election and reporting on what were the

won't serve out the ten-term he was nominated by then-president trump in 2017 after trump fired james comey from that post. trump celebrated the announcement. blasting the director on social media. accusing wray of working against him and blaming wray for his impeachment and criminal indictments and the lawful search of mar-a-lago and when wray suggested it was a fragment that hit trump's ear during the july assassination attempt rather than a bullet itself. lawmakers from both sides of the aisle. from republicans, celebration. senator chuck grassley from iowa, sent a letter lambasting wray's leadership of fbi, reform is badly needed at the fbi, the american people deserve transparency and accountability. senator grassley went on to release a statement that reads in part this, future fbi directors ought to learn a lesson from wray's mistakes, applying double standards and turning your back on whistle blowers will no longer it. mike johnson agreed with his decision. >> they serve ten-year terms for a reason. >> it doesn't worry me, look, new is happen. i was on judiciary, we investigated wha

trump fired fbi director james comey, who is leading an investigation at the time regarding possible ties between trump's campaign, some of his aides and russia. wray was then appointed to succeed comey as fbi director and now wray won't be able to serve his term. this is the latest episode that shows how paranoid and frustrated trump has been of the law enforcement arm of the federal government ever since he entered office. >> in 2016 i declared, i am your voice, today i add, i am your warrior, i am your justice, and for those who have been wronged and betrayed, i am your retribution. i am your retribution. i will fire the unelected bureaucrats and shadow forces who have weaponized our justice system like it's never been weaponized before. sick, these are sick people. >> trump has been in search of people loyal to him to lead various departments and shield him from any future investigations. as he reiterated over and over again on the campaign trail, he also wants revenge. in order to do that, he needs someone to help him build the legal apparatus to do just that. he might have foun

we've been dealing with this since he fired james comey after james comey pointed out to him that individuals are loyal to the constitution and the united states of america, not one individual. project 2025 and donald trump are going to end that. and also, by the way, of course there will be open lines of communication between donald trump and whomever he puts at the head of the doj. hopefully it is not kash patel. but however it is will be, for all intents and purposes, just as bad and just as dangerous to individual american citizens who, as tim point out, have only been doing their job as public servants. >> tim, you pointed out that donald trump had not mentioned exactly what he would be looking for these people to go to jail for. but in the event that there's nothing connected to january 6th or the committee work these people have done that could potentially have them indicted and prosecuted, are we potentially still looking at a space where donald trump or others might urge for a deeper probing, the actual witch hunt that has been thrown around for as long as we've seen donald trump on

no republican defended jim comey when he was fired by trump.c politics, and the whole smear campaign against him was a fabrication. left.s never a figure of the everyone that the right has come after has either been completely nonpartisan or if there's any political leaning to be deduced from their careers, they lean right. what is this really about? >> oh, you're on mute, mandy. stop and start over. >> sorry. you mention 9/11, and my brain kind of wept into overdrive there because i think we need to think about what is the purpose and mission of the fbi, and that is to prevent terrorism, prevent things like cyber crime, and prevent maligned foreign influences in this nation. and you talk about the mission that the fbi has heroically performed in the days after 9/11 and through that to protect this nation. and aside from asking what kash patel would affirmatively do that is in contrary with our democratic values in going after political enemies, i think you have to ask about what won't be done at the fbi in that scenario, right? once the focus

maria: you're talking about jim comey, you're talking about andrew mccabe.iz cheney and adam schiff. >> right. that sham commit ticks i think committee, i thinkthey abused tl of this. they abused their power. listen, it's a flew day. donald trump's back, baby. he's going to make america great again. [laughter] maria: all right. yes, the january 6th committee. that's a good point. good to see you, sir. congressman troy nehls. we'll be right back. confident. measured. ready. the markets, like life, will turn and challenge us. but when emotions run high, we stay grounded. with the hcm buyline, we work to empower investors, in navigating market volatility and complex conditions. we provide a diverse portfolio with proprietary mutual funds and etfs aimed at growth and preservation. so you can invest with confidence. visit howard c.m. funds dot com. at harbor freight, we do business differently from the other guys. we design and test our own tools. and sell them directly to you. no middleman. just quality tools you can trust at prices you'll love. ♪ oh, we got a w

. >> had hand picked wray after firing then fbi director james comey back in 2017. quickly soured on wray after the russia investigation. the classified documents search. in a comment that wray made after trump was shot in pennsylvania as he explained to kristen welker on "meet the press." >> i can't say i'm thrilled with him. he invaded by home. i'm suing the country over it. he invaded mar-a-lago. i'm very unhappy with the things he's done, and then when i was shot in the ear, he said, oh, maybe it was shrapnel, where's the shrapnel coming from, is it coming from heaven? i don't think so. >> we begin with nbc news justice and intelligence correspondent, ken dilanian, and "new york times" chief white house correspondent peter baker. ken, how is the fbi work force, the bureau reacting to the director resigning before the inaugural? >> there's a lot of concern and trepidation and sadness. chris wray was a relatively popular fbi director. he tried his best to steer the bureau through one of the most tumultuous times in its history as it was being attacked by republica

wray who trump appointed still has a few years left on his ten-year term which started when he fired comey he'll have to fire wray to get patel in. second of all, kash patel's only real qualification appears to be that he is very loyal to donald trump. and in a moment ike going to talk to elaina plot cabal row and she wrote a file of kash patel. he appeared focused on pleasing trump. even in an administration full of loyalists. he was exceptional in his devotion. so that is the guy trump wants to lead the nation's top law enforcement agency which isn't a political agency, by the way. and after a campaign that was laser focused on revenge and retribution, i think you know why. now kash patel is a conspiracy theory thinking. he's pedalled anti-vaccine which is to reverse the effects of covid vaccine and that is not a thing at all in the scientist community. and he's praised qanon. hugh has been so right on so many things. have they been right? kash patel, i'm not sure about that. but it is important to understand how a guy like that arrived that point. and his journey to trump world began on