FBI brass 'stunned' and 'shell-shocked' over Donald Trump reelection
The brass on the seventh floor at FBI headquarters in Washington are walking around in a daze and wary of a housecleaning since President-elect Donald Trump won his reelection on Tuesday, according to inside sources.
The Washington Times learned through several anonymous bureau sources that senior executives who run the agency were “stunned” and “shell-shocked” by Mr. Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.
“You know the fit test? How they let the standards slack on the fit test?” the first FBI source said, referring to the agency’s physical fitness requirements. “Everyone’s going to have a real problem when they’re running for the door.”
FBI Director Christopher A. Wray and Deputy Director Paul Abbate have little chance of remaining at the bureau by the time Mr. Trump is sworn into office, sources say.
FBI employees also recall when Mr. Trump fired former FBI Director James B. Comey in 2017, five months after the president was sworn in.
“It’s a countdown for Wray because [people here] don’t think he will stay to get fired after what Trump did to Comey,” the first source said. “Trump will say, ’Yeah, fire his ass. Don’t let him take the plane home,’” a reference to Mr. Comey finding out about his termination while flying to California on the bureau’s airplane.
Mr. Trump appointed Mr. Wray as FBI director in 2017 after firing Mr. Comey. The director’s term is for 10 years, but serving a full term depends on gaining the confidence of the president.