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As FBI Director Christopher Wray is set to step down after seven years of service in his 10-year tenure, questions about the bureau’s “political weaponization” have reignited, with critics like President-elect Trump citing bias in domestic terrorism and civil rights probes.
While Wray, who was appointed by Trump In his first term, he has faced scrutiny from conservatives for a kind of political bias in the office, FBI whistleblower Kyle Seraphin said the FBI’s shift toward agendas politicized within their field offices began in the post-9/11 era when reforms and surveillance powers were introduced. were granted to the agency.
“What people are seeing is the natural result of leaving FBI agents or Senior FBI leadershipthey predict what they think the crime is going to be in the country, being incentivized to be right, because at the end of the day they’re going to be paid a monetary bonus if they’re right, and then they go out and find that crime,” Seraphin told Fox News Digital.
FBI DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER WRAY ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION
“And so it seems very politicized,” he added. “But I think that’s really just a correlation error. What’s really going on is that the FBI is serving the interests of senior management, which is that they want to get paid, and the easiest way to get paid is go there. gather the MAGA people, who fall into this category of violent, anti-government, anti-authority extremists.”
Over the past four years, the FBI has intensified its focus on domestic terrorists and white supremacist activities. Between spring 2020 and September 2021, the FBI’s domestic terrorism caseload more than doubled, from about 1,000 to about 2,700 investigations, according to the Government Accountability Office. Wray stated in September 2020 that white supremacy is the largest category within domestic terrorism.
Over the past four years, the FBI has increased its focus on domestic terrorism, particularly targeting white supremacist activities. The agency’s caseload more than doubled from about 1,000 to 2,700 investigations between spring 2020 and September 2021, according to the Government Accountability Office. FBI Director Christopher Wray stated in September 2020 that white supremacy constitutes the largest category of domestic terrorism.
Critics, however, have questioned the FBI’s definition of domestic terrorism. Seraphin said a field office in New Mexico prioritized “anti-abortion extremists” as the state’s third-biggest national security threat. Separately during the summer, a doctor from Texas was loaded with four felonies for exposing alleged transgender surgeries on children in a hospital.
“Everybody assumes it’s politics because the FBI has some really politically motivated leads,” Seraphin said. “The current deputy director, Paul Abbate, is very politically motivated and it is very difficult to steer to the left.”
Seraphin blamed the FBI’s apparently political bias on integrated management of the program, a system designed by McKinsey & Company that rewarded executives with large bonuses for meeting self-determined metrics, such as domestic extremism and terrorism.
In December 2023, the House Judiciary Committee released a report titled “The FBI’s Violation of Religious Freedom: Weaponizing Law Enforcement Against Catholic Americans.” The report followed Seraphin’s disclosure of an FBI memo that labeled certain American Catholics as potential violent extremists.
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“They use national security words to go after domestic people, and they have national security tools to look at your email to access your communications, phone calls, texts, emails, etc.,” Seraphin said. “They have the ability to look at your bank account and look at your financial records. And if they find it evidence of a crime Isn’t that related to what they’re looking for, what threat they’re actually looking for?”
“Do we want people to get away with their crime? No, but we do want the government to respond to the broken Bill of Rights,” Seraphin said.
In a December interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Trump said, “I can’t say I’m thrilled with him,” when asked if he would fire Wray as he enters his second nonconsecutive presidential term.
“He invaded my house,” Trump said: referring to the 2022 FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. Trump announced in late November his nomination of Kash Patel, a Trump ally and former chief of staff to the defense secretary, as the next FBI director. Patel has been critical of the FBI’s handling of investigations into Trump.
Seraphin, who said he has spoken with Patel about the office, said he may be “the most qualified candidate” for the role.
“He understands what the FBI does to directors to maintain their status quo,” Seraphin said. “That makes him a potentially disruptive force to the status quo. But I actually think he will be if he’s able to accomplish the things that he said, which is to go out there and remove the corruption, remove the political stuff. – know that the FBI is subject to the Constitution.”
Wray made his resignation announcement during a virtual FBI town hall from Washington, DC, on Wednesday, during which thousands of FBI employees across the country were expected to attend online.
“After weeks of careful consideration, I have decided that the right thing to do for the office is to serve until the end of the current administration in January and then step down,” Wray said during the town hall. “My goal is to keep the focus on our mission: the indispensable work you are doing every day on behalf of the American people. In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the office deeper into the fights while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work.”
Wray also said his focus is and always has been on the FBI doing what is right.
“When you look at where the threats are headed, it’s clear that the importance of our work — keeping Americans safe and defending the Constitution – won’t change. And what absolutely cannot, must not change, is our commitment to doing the right thing, the right way, every time,” Wray said.
Fox News Digital reached out to the FBI, but did not hear back by publication deadline.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner and David Sprunt contributed to this report.