Donald Trump was warned by his White House counsel not to fire FBI director Chris Wray because it would put the president in direct legal jeopardy
The White House counsel's office has cautioned President Donald Trump against firing his second FBI director because it could backfire on him personally, according to a new report.
Trump has stewed about FBI Director Chris Wray for weeks, and has contemplated firing him.
But his own White House lawyers 'strongly' encouraged him not to do so, NBC reported, concerned that it might suggest a Trump-imposed loyalty test. The FBI Director serves a 10-year term established by Congress as a form of insulation from political interference.
White House lawyers have cautioned President Trump against firing FBI Director Chris Wray during the final weeks of Trump's term out of concern it might look like retaliation
Concerns about possible perception didn't stop Trump in his first year in office, when he fired former FBI Director James Comey, after a private meeting where Comey wrote in contemporaneous notes that Trump asked him for 'loyalty.'
Trump had been furious about the Russia probe and angered about the investigation into national security advisor Mike Flynn, who he pardoned in November following Flynn's guilty plea to lying to the FBI.
White House counsel Pat Cipollone warned that firing Wray could be seen as political retaliation and bring blowback.
White House counsel Pat Cipollone, who defended Trump during impeachment, delivered the warning
Trump fired former FBI Director James Comey, whom he asked for loyalty and to 'let this go' in reference to a probe of Mike Flynn, according to Comey
Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team probed the Comey firing
In late September, Wray testified in the Senate that he had not seen evidence of a 'coordinated national voter fraud effort.' It severely undercut Trump's case, which was to raise pre-election claims of widespread fraud. Then after the election, Trump's campaing and allies filed a flurry of lawsuits claiming voter fraud and that Joe Biden hadn't won the election.
Trump and allies spoke about firing Wray after the election for failing to publicly confirm a Hunter Biden investigation – although FBI agents did met with former Hunter Biden business associate Tony Bobulinski after Trump brought him to a presidential debate where he leveled allegations against Hunter.
Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigators probed the Comey firing as a form of potential obstruction of justice.
Although Mueller made no recommendation on potential obstruction, lawmakers and legal scholars have mentioned it as something Trump could technically be prosecuted for after he leaves office.
The report comes days after Trump announced the resignation of Attorney General Bill Barr.
Barr had given an interview where his comments diverged from Trump's claim of massive election fraud when he said 'to date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election.'
It had also been revealed that Barr used the force of his office to instruct prosecutors investigating Hunter Biden not to take any steps that might cause the probe to be publicly revealed in the run-up to the election.
Wray had faced public pressure from Trump allies for appearing not to take action on allegations raised against Hunter Biden – although it was revealed post-election that the Hunter had received a subpoena and had been under investigation since 2018.