President Donald Trump on Saturday accused former FBI Director Christopher Wray of lying about FBI agents’ presence during the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, days after his administration brought charges against Wray’s predecessor, James Comey.
Trump claimed, without evidence, that the FBI “secretly placed” agents into the crowds to act as “agitators and insurrections,” rather than law enforcement officials, in what he called “the January 6 hoax.”
“This is different from what Director Christopher Wray stated, over and over again! That’s right, as it now turns out, FBI Agents were at, and in, the January 6th Protest, probably acting as Agitators and Insurrectionists, but certainly not as ‘Law Enforcement Officials,’” Trump said on Truth Social.
CNN has reached out to Wray for comment.
As CNN previously reported, no undercover FBI agents were at the Capitol during the January 6 riot, according to a Justice Department watchdog. However, the DOJ inspector general said that 26 paid FBI informants were in Washington, DC, that day.
“I want to know who each and every one of these so-called ‘Agents’ are, and what they were up to on that now ‘Historic’ Day. Many Great American Patriots were made to pay a very big price only for the love of their Country. I owe this investigation of ‘Dirty Cops and Crooked Politicians’ to them!” Trump continued.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Saturday that the president was lying.
“Donald Trump is lying to the American people about the events of January 6. He can’t justify the fact that he helped to incite a mob of violent individuals who attacked the Capitol as part of an effort to try to reverse and undermine the results of the 2020 presidential election,” Jeffries said on MSNBC.
Trump nominated Wray to serve as FBI director during his first term following Comey’s firing. Saturday’s message comes days after a federal grand jury indicted Comey, an extraordinary escalation in the president’s effort to prosecute his political enemies. The Justice Department has accused Comey of giving false statements and obstructing justice. Trump, who told CNN on Friday that other indictments would come, appears to be turning his attention to Wray.
“Christopher Wray, the then Director of the FBI, has some major explaining to do. That’s two in a row, Comey and Wray, who got caught LYING, with our Great Country at stake,” Trump continued.
While Trump nominated Wray, he credits the appointment to former ally and adviser Chris Christie.
“For those who are interested, and there aren’t many of you, Christopher Wray was recommended to me by Sloppy Chris Christie when Chris was in my ‘good graces’ — which was a very long time ago!” Trump said.
Publicly and privately, Trump has complained that prosecutors were willing to bring numerous criminal cases against him while he was out of office, noting that in those instances he was charged with whatever they had at the time, according to a person familiar with the discussions. The person added that Trump has repeatedly said the Justice Department should bring the best case it can when it comes to his political opponents and let the court decide the rest.
“I just want people to act. And we want to act fast,” Trump told reporters last week as he departed the White House. “If they’re not guilty, that’s fine. If they are guilty, or if they should be charged, they should be charged, and we have to do it now.”
Wray resigned before Trump’s inauguration in January, three years short of his 10-year term, after Trump announced he would nominate Kash Patel as FBI director. During his farewell address, Wray called on the FBI to maintain its integrity.
“No matter what’s happening out there,” Wray said, “in here, we’ve got to stay committed to doing our work the right way every time, with professionalism, with rigor, with integrity. That means following the facts wherever they lead, no matter who likes it or doesn’t — because trust me, if there’s anything I’ve learned in this job, there’s always someone who doesn’t like you.”
CNN’s Holmes Lybrand, Hannah Rabinowitz, Evan Perez, Aileen Graef, Katelyn Polantz, Kaitlan Collins and Kristen Holmes contributed to this report.
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