FBI Director Wray To Employees, Amid Memo Release Furor: ‘Talk Is Cheap’

UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 27: Chris Wray, FBI Director, testifies during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing in Dirksen titled "Threats to the Homeland" on September 27, 2017. Elaine Duke, Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and  Nicholas Rasmussen, Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, also testified. They fielded questions including hurricane response and border security. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 27: Chris Wray, FBI Director, testifies during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing in Dirksen titled "Threats to the Homeland" on September 27, 2017. Elaine... UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 27: Chris Wray, FBI Director, testifies during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing in Dirksen titled "Threats to the Homeland" on September 27, 2017. Elaine Duke, Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and Nicholas Rasmussen, Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, also testified. They fielded questions including hurricane response and border security. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) MORE LESS
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FBI Director Chris Wray on Friday told bureau employees to “stay laser focused on doing great work” after the release of a dud memo that House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes’ (R-CA) staff wrote accusing the FBI and Department of Justice of acting improperly.

“While there’s no shortage of opinions about us right now, nobody has the same vantage point on the FBI that I do,” Wray wrote in a memo to FBI employees, according to NBC News. “I wish every American could see what I see.”

He praised employees for having “the highest level of integrity, the strongest work ethic, the greatest consideration and kindness for your FBI family, and a level of fiercely focused professionalism that is unrivaled anywhere in the world.”

“In the end, actions speak louder than words,” Wray wrote. “Talk is cheap; the work you do is what will endure.”

He said there is “real strength in remembering that,” and advised employees to “remember: keep calm and tackle hard.”

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Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for j.dave j.dave says:

    "Keep calm and tackle hard.”

    Also, speak softly and carry (Bobby) Three Sticks.

  2. I am very worried. Historically, attacking the FBI has always been a winning strategy for presidents.

  3. This kind of communication to employees being put out by the FBI Director due to REPUBLICAN actions. We live in interesting times.

  4. Avatar for esva esva says:

    It doesn’t look like Wray will be resigning any time soon.

  5. It’ll be interesting to see how the Nunes b.s. is received among the general public. I remember reading that 25-30% stayed with Nixon even after he was shown to have committed obstruction of justice and resigned, you know, muttering about how the media “did him in.” The rest of the country moved on and accepted that their president had indeed been a crook. I wonder if the pro-Trumpers will remain in the Nixon-backer parameters, 25-30 percent, or whether Fox News has won more converts for the “media is after 45” worldview. Interesting times, in the Chinese sense.

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