FBI Director Wray Defends His Agency on Capitol Hill, But Skirts Other Issues

FBI Director Christopher Wray testified on Thursday before the House Judiciary Committee. Wray defended his law enforcement agency amid persistent criticism from President Donald Trump. 

Over the weekend, President Trump went after the FBI on Twitter, saying "its reputation is in Tatters," citing the agency's investigation of Hillary Clinton's private email server under former Director James Comey.

In Wray’s testimony on Thursday, he said that “there is no finer institution than the FBI, and no finer people than the men and women who work there and are its very beating heart.”

"There is no shortage of opinions out there. What I can tell you is the FBI I see is tens of thousands of agents and analysts and staff working their tails off to keep Americans safe from the next terrorist attack; gang violence; child predators; spies from Russia, China, North Korea and Iran." 

Wray also faced questions about potential legal trouble for Trump personally arising from Mueller’s investigation. 

Details from the charging documents related to former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s plea deal and Trump’s recent tweets have given fresh life to questions about obstruction of justice related to the president’s decision to fire Comey, Wray’s predecessor. 

Wray, however, repeatedly deflected questions about whether Trump’s decision would put him in legal jeopardy.

Wray was either unprepared or unwilling to really answer very serious questions during the testimony. He just looked befuddled up there. It's a tough time for the FBI, but that performance on Thursday did not inspire confidence.

Al Franken Resigns

Minnesota Democratic Sen. Al Franken officially resigned on Thursday in a speech he gave on the Senate floor due to multiple allegations of sexual misconduct. 

Franken’s resignation comes the day after several dozen of his Democratic colleagues called for him to step aside. 

Franken’s replacement will be selected by Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat. Dayton is expected to choose Minnesota’s female Democratic Lieutenant Governor, Tina Smith, preventing a special election which would give Republican’s an opportunity to run for Franken’s vacant seat.

During Franken’s announcement, he took shots at President Trump, equating his situation, with Trump's. And of course, that's fallacious in the extreme.

Everybody knows the accusations leveled against Donald Trump and the electorate still elected him president. Even with all of the media constantly pounding him, the American people said, we'd rather have him than Hillary Clinton as our president. That's a fact. Franken, on the other hand couldn't ride it out because his own party turned against him.

The Continuing Story of Peter Strzok

At the outset of today’s hearing in front of the House Judiciary Committee, FBI Director Wray was asked about reports surrounding FBI agent, Peter Strzok. 

Strzok was removed from his position over allegations of anti-Trump text messages and he was responsible for softening language about Secretary Hillary Clinton in the bureau's investigation into her private email server. 

Strzok had changed Comey's earlier draft language describing Clinton's actions as "grossly negligent" to "extremely careless." That change in wording has significant legal implications, since "gross negligence" in handling classified information can carry criminal penalties.  

Wray told lawmakers that while he agreed with the investigation into the handling of the server as well as the removal of Strzok, he said it would not be "appropriate" for him to speculate on the investigation.  

In addition to today’s testimony, Rep. Devin Nunes, (R-CA), is drafting a contempt resolution, which he will file "as quickly as possible," against FBI Director Christopher Wray and Deputy U.S. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. 

Rep. Nunes charges that Wray and Rosenstein failed to deliver "outstanding documents" related to a subpoena he filed in August for records of the dossier on connections between President Donald Trump's campaign and Russia. 

The congressman followed the subpoena with additional ones asking for interviews with Wray and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, as well as Strzok. 

Nunes would need the support of the Intelligence Committee and then the entire House for his contempt resolution before it could be referred to the Justice Department for potential legal proceedings before a court.

Obama Blocked Deportation of 550,000 Illegals

U.S. immigration officials have revealed that they face a deportation backlog of 550,000 illegal immigrants who were given temporary amnesty by former President Obama or simply let off the hook by liberal judges. 

The massive backlog is being tackled by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but the sheer numbers, bigger than the populations of Atlanta or Sacramento, is overwhelming the agency’s enforcement and removal department. 

Another factor in the buildup of deportation orders is because some 300 sanctuary cities refused to let ICE officers into city jails to seize illegals.

Facebook Live event!

On Monday, December 11, at 2:05 PM ET, Bill will be hosting a Facebook Live event where he will be evaluating the Trump Administration. Now, if you're working and you can't see it, we'll have it taped and you can see it later in the day on BillOReilly.com. 

Spread the word! The link is: Facebook.com/BillOReillyOfficial or you can search Bill O'Reilly on Facebook and they'll guide you in there. Facebook. Tune in on Monday!

Mail Time!

• "Wow, what a fantastic podcast last night. You covered a lot, Bill. I liked your prediction about Moore. Sounds like everyone would be happy if that were to happen except the Democrats. I can't wait to see the Facebook Live event."

• Well, good, Claire. I'm glad you tuned into that and we will deliver for you on Monday. We'll also have the podcast on Monday. We are going to do two things. I'm overworked. We're going to do the Facebook live then we'll do the regular program. 

• "Bill, love the podcast and the app. If Roy Moore is elected, how could the Senate Ethics Committee rule on his alleged misconduct if the actions took place decades before he was elected?"

• It's an interesting question because the Senate Ethics Committee, comprised of six individuals, three Democrats and three Republicans, usually do not get involved in allegations prior to a person being elected senator. But it's not impossible. Now, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan reiterated today he doesn't think Moore should run. He thinks Moore should quit, drop out. That's not going to happen. Polls say Moore is going to win that election next Tuesday. So, I don't know what the Senate's going to do. I don't. A lot of it depends on if any of the accusers are discredited, OK, which I don't think is going to happen. If that were going to happen it would have happened already.

• "Bill, yours is the only program I watch. There are several reasons for this. But one main reason is your demeanor. You present the facts and do snot smear folks. It's refreshing."

• Good. I'm glad you guys are noticing that. There is plenty of smearing going on in this country. Plenty of denial of due process. Plenty of witch hunting. 

Word of the Day: Mooncalf