ATTORNEY GENERAL/CHRIS WRAY/FBI/JEFF SESSIONS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: “FBI Director Christopher Wray felt so much pressure from Attorney General Jeff Sessions to make staffing changes among the senior ranks at the FBI that he threatened to resign from his post, a source familiar with the conversation tells CNN.
Sessions communicated to Wray, who was hand-picked by President Donald Trump and sworn in in August, that he needed a fresh start with his senior team at the FBI, the source said. Sessions specifically suggested the bureau’s deputy director, Andrew McCabe, and its top lawyer, James Baker.
It is not clear if Sessions explicitly told Wray to fire the two men or simply reassign them, according to the source. Wray, in turn, threatened to quit if McCabe was removed or reassigned from his post. Baker was reassigned late last year.
Axios first reported Monday that Wray threatened to resign if Sessions did not stop pressuring him to fire McCabe…
The White House principal deputy press secretary Raj Shah issued a statement Monday praising Wray while attacking other senior FBI officials in response to Axios’ reporting…
CNN previously reported that McCabe, who is eligible to retire in March, told other senior FBI officials months ago that he planned to retire in the near future. Under FBI rules governing accumulated leave, he may be able to exit earlier…Trump has publicly called on McCabe to step down and tweeted repeated attacks on the FBI official.”
-Kaitlan Collins and Eli Watkins, “Source: New FBI director threatened to resign under pressure from Sessions,” Jan. 23, 2018 10:22am