Friday, June 26, 2020

Wray Has 'Serious Concerns' About Comey FBI's Investigation of Michael Flynn

FBI Director Christopher Wray said in an interview aired Wednesday that he has "Serious concerns" about how the bureau handled the investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

"I will say the Flynn investigation, which took place before I started, and by the time I started was in the hands of the special counsel's office, is something that has, in my view, raised serious concerns and questions," Wray told Fox News anchor Bret Baier.

Wray's remarks are his most pointed criticism to date of the FBI's investigation of Flynn, which started when James Comey served as director.

Wray gave the interview before a federal appeals court directed a federal judge to comply with the Justice Department's request to drop charges against Flynn.

The Justice Department filed a motion on May 7 to withdraw charges against Flynn for making false statements to the FBI during a Jan. 24, 2017, interview regarding his contacts weeks earlier with Sergey Kislyak, who then served as Russian ambassador to the U.S. Attorney General William Barr appointed U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Jensen to review the Flynn investigation after the retired general's lawyers accused prosecutors of withholding exculpatory evidence in the case.

Jensen's review turned up an FBI memo from Jan. 4, 2017, that recommended closing a counterintelligence investigation against Flynn over possible links to Russia.

Wray also approved the firing of former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who played a key role in the Flynn investigation.

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