As FBI Director Christopher Wray is set to step down after seven years of a 10-year term, critics such as President-elect Trump have criticized the bureau, citing bias in domestic terrorism and civil rights investigations. Questions about “political weaponization'' are resurfacing.
Wray, who was appointed by President Trump during his first term, has come under intense scrutiny from conservatives for what he described as a type of political bias within the bureau, but FBI whistleblower Kyle Serafin said the FBI He said the shift towards politicized agendas within the field office began after September. In the 11th century, fundamental reforms and surveillance powers were given to government agencies.
“What people are seeing is the natural result of having FBI agents and FBI executives make predictions about what they think are going to be crimes in this country and being incentivized to be right because they get paid a bonus. If they're right, they end up going out and discovering the crime,'' Serafin told FOX News Digital.
FBI Director Christopher Wray announces resignation
FBI Director Christopher Wray (AP Photo/Charlie Neighborgal/File)
“So it looks very politicized,” he added. “But I think that's actually just a mistake in correlation. What's actually happening is that the FBI is serving the interests of senior management, which means they want to get paid. And the easiest way to get paid is to go and round up MAGA people who fall into the anti-government, anti-authority, violent extremist category. ”
Over the past four years, the FBI has increased its focus on domestic terrorist and white supremacist activity. The FBI's domestic terrorism caseload more than doubled between spring 2020 and September 2021, with the number of investigations increasing from about 1,000 to about 2,700, according to the Government Accountability Office. Wray testified in September 2020 that white supremacy is the largest category of domestic terrorism.
Over the past four years, the FBI has increased its focus on domestic terrorism, particularly white supremacist activity. According to the Government Accountability Office, the number of investigations by authorities more than doubled from spring 2020 to September 2021, from about 1,000 cases to 2,700 cases. FBI Director Christopher Wray testified in September 2020 that white supremacy constitutes the nation's largest category of terrorism.
But critics have questioned the FBI's definition of domestic terrorism. Serafin said his New Mexico field office has prioritized “anti-abortion extremism” as the state's third-highest national security threat. Separately, over the summer, a Texas doctor was charged with four felonies for disclosing alleged surgeries on transgender children at his hospital.
“Everyone thinks it's about politics because the FBI has leads that are really politically motivated,” Serafin said. “The current deputy secretary, Paul Abate, is very politically motivated and very keen to lead the left.”
Mr. Serafin said the FBI's apparent political bias is due to its integrated program management system, a system designed by McKinsey & Company that gives big bonuses to executives who meet criteria it sets, such as domestic extremism and terrorism. I blamed it.
In December 2023, House Judiciary Committee released The report was titled “FBI Violations of Religious Freedom: Weaponizing Law Enforcement Against Catholic Americans.” The report followed Serafin's disclosure of an FBI memo that labeled certain Catholic Americans as potential violent extremists.
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(Richard Sheinwald/Bloomberg via Getty Images/File)
“They are using national security language to go after individuals in the country, and they have national security tools to look at your email and access your communications, phone calls, text messages, emails, etc. ” Seraphine said. “They have the ability to look into your bank accounts and look into your financial records. And they should find evidence of crimes that have nothing to do with what they're looking for, which is the threat they're actually looking for. Is that so?”
“Do we want people to get away with crime? No, but we want the government to be accountable to this extraordinary bill of rights,” Serafin said.
In a December interview on NBC's “Meet the Press,” when asked if he would fire Wray once he was sworn in for a second non-consecutive term, Trump responded, “I can't say I'm excited about him. ” he answered.
“He broke into my house,” Trump said, referring to the FBI's 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago, Florida, home. In late November, President Trump announced that he would nominate Kash Patel, his ally and former chief of staff to the Secretary of Defense, to be the next FBI director. Patel has criticized the FBI's handling of the investigation into Trump.
Mr. Serafin said he spoke with Mr. Patel about the department and that he may be the “best qualified” candidate for the office.
“He understands what the FBI is doing to directors to maintain the status quo,” Serafin said. “So he becomes a force that has a lot of potential to disrupt the status quo. But the fact is that what he said, which is to go out and root out corruption and depoliticize Hopefully, I think it will.'' Ensuring the FBI follows the Constitution. ”
Who is Kash Patel? Trump's nominee for FBI director has a long history of vowing to take down the “deep state.”
FBI Director Christopher Wray (left) and Kash Patel (Brandon Bell/Getty Images/File)
Wray announced his resignation Wednesday at the FBI's virtual town hall from Washington, D.C., which was scheduled to be attended online by thousands of FBI agents from across the country.
“After several weeks of careful consideration, I have decided that the right thing for the department is to serve until the end of this administration in January and then resign,” Wray said at City Hall. “My goal is to remain focused on our mission — the essential work we do every day for the American people. In my opinion, this will take the station deeper into the conflict while reinforcing our values.” It's the best way to avoid getting dragged down,' and it's a very important principle in our work. ”
Wray also said the FBI is focused on doing the right thing and always has been.
“The importance of our efforts to keep Americans safe and secure is clear when we look at where the threats are headed. defend the constitution – No change. And the one thing that should never and should not change is our commitment to always do the right thing, the right way,” Ray said.
Fox News Digital contacted the FBI but did not receive a response by publication deadline.
Fox News Digital's Greg Wehner and David Sprunt contributed to this report.
