Did you see the Senate kabuki theater presentation when FBI
Schmuck Director Christopher Wray was called on the carpet? I caught some of it, especially when Grassley asked Wray if his pending flight could be delayed a bit so as to finish the dog and pony show that is any kind of congressional "hearing."
Wray mumbled and dodged and obfuscated to that question, just as he had done pretty much throughout the entire theater.
There's more to that story.
Last Thursday, FBI Dir. Christopher Wray appeared before the US Senate to ostensibly answer questions about the bureau’s conduct. What followed was a thorough undressing of the corrupt agency while Wray himself scoffed at any sort of accountability.
First, Sen. Ted Cruz exposed the entrapment that took place regarding the FBI-led Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot. Sen. Josh Hawley also exacted his pound of flesh in questioning. Later, Wray tried to wiggle out of the hearing by claiming to Sen. Chuck Grassley that he had “a plane to catch.”
Well, now we know what plane he caught and where it was going, and it sure seems like a scandal. Far from the picture Wray tried to paint of him rushing through a busy international airport to catch a scheduled flight, he actually jumped on his taxpayer-funded private jet, a state-of-the-art Gulfstream 550. Worse, though, was where he went. It doesn’t appear he was on FBI business. Instead, he was taking a vacation.
The New York Post has the report.
Grassley’s 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.
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 in the Adirondacks, which happens to be a favorite summer destination since his childhood, when he used to hike the High Peaks and fish for trout, according to the Adirondack Daily Enterprise.
There are several things to consider, including the fact that Wray clearly misled Congress on why he had to leave. The idea that a government-controlled FBI jet couldn’t wait an extra few minutes for Republicans to finish their questioning is ludicrous. Wray is nothing if he isn’t manipulative, though, and the way he played things while in the hearing was clearly meant to make it seem as if he were catching a commercial flight. That’s not a “lie,” I guess, but it is dang sure dishonest.
Then there are the questions around whether Wray’s flight was even legal. I can’t say as I’m no expert on that area of the law, but I’ve always been under the impression that government officials can’t use government aircraft for personal trips, with the only exception being the President of the United States. If Wray tries to claim that he needed to go to his favorite vacation spot on an FBI jet for “business,” that’s scandalous. At the very least, I believe he must reimburse the government. Is he doing that?
This is a story that needs to be dug into by those who have the resources to do so, beginning with the Republican senators that Wray tried to play. The FBI is a dumpster fire, and if I had my way, it’d be defunded and abolished. That’s not going to happen, but holding Wray accountable would be a good start. And the moment a Republican retakes the White House, he must be fired.
RedState - Bonchie
