United States President Donald Trump and his advisors have reportedly been considering the possibility of firing FBI Director Christopher Wray after Election Day as he did not provide him with information that would be politically beneficial in the final weeks before elections.
Discussions between the President and his senior aides have resulted from criticism that Wray and Attorney General William Barr have not fulfilled Trump's wish for an official investigation to be launched into Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, The Hill reported, citing sources.
A source who requested anonymity to be able to freely disclose information on the internal discussion said that Trump has suggested that he wants action similar to that taken ahead of the 2016 elections by FBI Director James Comey, who had informed Congress about the investigation he had reopened into the then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of State.
According to the polling data from 2016, Comey's announcement had a significant impact on Clinton's lead over Trump, even though it came in just 11 days before the elections.
As per sources, Trump considers Wray to be one of his worst personnel picks. Both White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and top Trump advisor Dan Scavino have also criticised Wray in internal talks.
According to The Hill, White House spokesman Judd Deere told the Post that the White House does not speculate on personnel matters, adding that "if the president doesn't have confidence in someone he will let you know."
In their proposal for an official investigation into Biden and his son, Trump along with his allies used a New York Post article that alleged Hunter Biden helped broker a meeting between an executive at Burisma, the Ukrainian gas firm and his father when Joe Biden was vice president.
The Bidens in their campaign have denied the story since, and intelligence experts from outside have raised concerns about whether it could be part of a foreign disinformation campaign.
However, the FBI said in a letter sent Tuesday night to Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) that it had "nothing to add" to a statement made by Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe earlier this week in which he dismissed suspicions that the reports on Hunter Biden resulted from a Russian disinformation campaign, The Hill reported.
Tuesday's letter from FBI Assistant Director Jill Tyson further read that the FBI "can neither confirm nor deny the existence of any ongoing investigation or persons or entities under investigation, including to Members of Congress."
Trump has come to target Wray especially more in recent weeks after Wray refuted the President' claims about potential fraud in mail-in ballots and his description of the group Antifa.
During last week's NBC town hall, moderator Savannah Guthrie mentioned the FBI director's comments that there is no evidence of widespread fraud in mail-in voting, after which Trump argued that Wray is "not doing a very good job."
Trump has recently criticised many other members of his administration, including Barr and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for their failure to incriminate his political enemies in wrongdoings, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for not providing a result after weeks of coronavirus relief talks with Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
( With inputs from ANI )
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