The Move to Fire Christopher Wray

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Someone with an intimate personal knowledge of Florida high school shooter Nikolas Cruz called an FBI tip line on January 5th of this year and stated a list of concerns about the young man.  According to a statement released by the FBI after the deadly shooting:

"The caller provided information about Cruz's gun ownership, desire to kill people, erratic behavior, and disturbing social media posts, as well as the potential of him conducting a school shooting."

And that warning somehow fell through the cracks.

Now Florida's indignant governor, Rick Scott, is calling for Christopher Wray, the Director of the FBI, to be fired.  Perhaps Wray should be fired, but before the governor lands on his back from jerking his knee, it might serve the discourse well to look at a few other facts:

• The FBI, once the nation's premier law enforcement agency, has been operating from a defensive political mode ever since Donald Trump, with no advance warning or notice, fired its former director, James Comey, last April.  While the agents need to be focused on ferreting out criminals and preventing crime, many are also focused on looking over their shoulders in anticipation of more political shenanigans threatening their law enforcement careers.
• Christoper Wray, a Trump appointee, is struggling to run his agency in an independent and professional manner, even while political pressure mounts for him to help in aborting the investigation currently being conducted by former FBI Director Robert Mueller.  Wray has a lot to manage, including earning the loyalty of thousands of employees who have reason to be distrustful of political leaders.
• Some of the noise being directed at the FBI is coming people who have agendas that are not driven by school safety.  NRA whores populate Florida politics, and their interest is in keeping the conversation away from the subjects of guns and the ready availability of guns.
• Focusing on the FBI also provides a breach in the protection surrounding Robert Mueller and his independent investigation of the Russian connections to the 2016 election and to the Trump campaign.

Governor Rick Scott wants to fire Christopher Wray, but the motives of the governor, a man who has an A+ rating with the National Rifle Association, may have a lot more with protecting the NRA and its free-flowing campaign cash (and his own political skin) than it does the safety of America's children.  (An article in this week's Time noted that the NRA acknowledged Scott in 2014 for signing "more pro-gun bills into law - in one term - than any other governor in Florida history.")  It sounds like Rick earned that A+!

(The Giffords Laws Center to Prevent Gun Violence gives the state of Florida an "F" on the stringency of its gun laws.)

Trump has an opening.  An important person like the governor of Florida wants Wray fired.  He can dress it up as a move for school safety - a move that won't take guns away from anyone, and he, Trump, will choose Wray's replacement.

Maybe Roy Moore is still available.