Former FBI and CIA director William Webster wrote in a Monday op-ed for The New York Times that he is “deeply disturbed” by recent comments by President Trump about FBI Director Christopher Wray.
In the op-ed, Webster, the only person to serve in both positions, pushes back against Trump’s comments that Wray, whom he appointed after firing former Director James Comey, is not capable of fixing institutional issues within the bureau after Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report on the 2016 investigation of the Trump campaign.
“The president’s thinly veiled suggestion that the director, Christopher Wray, like his banished predecessor, James Comey, could be on the chopping block, disturbs me greatly,” Webster wrote, referencing the way Trump called Wray the FBI’s “current director.”
“The independence of both the F.B.I. and its director is critical and should be fiercely protected by each branch of government,” Webster added, saying he never felt political pressure under presidents of either party, including Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.
Webster also criticizes Attorney General William Barr and Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, both of whom he describes as longtime friends, for accusing the bureau of bias and activities in Ukraine, respectively.
“This difficult moment demands the restoration of the proper place of the Department of Justice and the F.B.I. as bulwarks of law and order in America,” Webster wrote. “This is not about politics. This is about the rule of law. Republicans and Democrats alike should defend it above all else.”
“I continue to believe in and pray for the ability of all Americans to overcome our differences and pursue the common good. Order protects liberty, and liberty protects order,” he added.
Horowitz’s report said there was no political bias in the FBI’s launching of a probe into Trump campaign associates, but found multiple mistakes and inappropriate actions as the investigation was conducted. Trump and his allies have seized on the findings as evidence of institutional bias against him.
“I have complete confidence in Mr. Wray, and I know that the F.B.I. is not a broken institution,” Webster wrote. “It is a professional agency worthy of respect and support. The derision and aspersions are dangerous and unwarranted.”