Trump Blasts FBI Director Wray For Shooting Down Ukrainian Interference Conspiracy Theory

FBI Director Christopher Wray weighed in on Monday’s watchdog report clearing the FBI of being motivated by a bias against President Donald Trump. While Wray was disappointed that the report detailed agency actions that were “unacceptable and unrepresentative” of the FBI, he was satisfied with the determination that the “investigation was opened with appropriate predication and authorization.”

President Trump, clearly disappointed by the findings presented by the Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz, has not only condemned the report but has also taken Wray to task.

Speaking to ABC News, Wray said the Horowitz’ report debunked the “deep state” conspiracy theory pushed by Trump and his supporters. This theory suggests that the FBI and other agencies are working to undermine his presidency and to remove him from the White House on false pretenses.

Wray also took the time to shoot down another baseless conspiracy theory coming from the Trump camp which asserts that Ukraine – not Russia – was behind the foreign interference in the 2016 presidential election. “We have no information that indicates that Ukraine interfered with the 2016 presidential election. As far as the [2020] election itself goes, we think Russia represents the most significant threat,” said Wray.

In response to Wray’s interview, Trump took to Twitter to contradict the FBI director and chastised him, saying, "I don’t know what report current Director of the FBI Christopher Wray was reading, but it sure wasn’t the one given to me."

Trump continued, "With that kind of attitude, he will never be able to fix the FBI, which is badly broken despite having some of the greatest men [and] women working there!"

If Trump’s history of hostility toward the FBI and its leadership is any indication, this may mean the president is considering vacating the position of FBI director once again. In May 2017, Trump abruptly dismissed then-FBI Director James Comey after Comey declined to comply with the president’s personal request to cease the FBI’s focus on Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Trump has repeatedly demonstrated his willingness to remove and replace members of the federal government he deems to be working against his interests, regardless of the questionable optics. A similar sequence of events followed when then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions chose to recuse himself from participating in the escalating federal investigation into possible connections between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign.

Sessions was soon dismissed and has since been succeeded by William Barr. Barr has so far proven willing to go to bat for the president on a variety of issues, including criticism of the investigation headed by FBI special counsel Robert Mueller as well as pushing the claim that Ukraine was responsible for foreign interference in 2016.