With the recent release of the IG report and confirmation that the FBI had illegally obtained warrants against Carter Page to spy on Trump’s campaign, one of the next steps was to see just how seriously the bureau would take the revelations. Director Wray’s initial, ridiculous response didn’t leave much hope that real reforms would come.

I really didn't have an opinion about Wray up until now. When your team screws up as badly as the FBI did, literally lying to the FISA court to spy on Americans, you don't just get to order "corrective steps." Heads need to roll, period. What the hell kind of response is this? https://t.co/MxVoFq6mYP — Jason Howerton (@jason_howerton) December 17, 2019

That looks to have been a pretty solid indicator because the FBI responded to the FISC recommendations on what to change and it’s exactly what you’d expect. Never mind all the issues with the FISA court itself and the team they chose, the FBI can’t even be bothered to do much of anything differently.

Kris (amicus) recommended potentially barring certain FBI agent from appearing before the FISA Court. DOJ/FBI doesn't address that recommendation. Instead: "The FBI will follow its internal processes (OPR) to ensure individual accountability" pic.twitter.com/XqtUUfHOe2 — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) February 4, 2020

Oh, there will be more “training” and “modules.” Well, that will surely fix everything because what happened with Page was just a training lapse or something.

This is ludicrous. It was political bias run wild and FBI leadership actively choosing to abuse their power that led to the warrants against Page being fabricated. Wray’s response should be to fire people, demote others, and show publicly that he’s willing to do what it takes to fix his agency. Instead, he’s going to simply stick to the current internal processes, throw out a few useless seminars, and call the job done.

What the FBI really needs is a good house cleaning and the bright light of external oversight shined into its recesses. That’s obviously not going to happen as long as Wray is in charge, but the President can’t afford the political firestorm firing him would produce right now. In the meantime, the country is stuck with this corrupt, dumpster fire of an agency essentially doing what it has always done. Wray couldn’t even be bothered to accept the recommendation to bar certain officials from being part of the FISA process.

Given all this, there’s only one direction left to go. Wray needs to be fired and the FISA court needs to be disbanded. Both have shown themselves woefully incapable of policing themselves. I hope Republicans in Congress take this up and push the issue over the next year. That’s the only way trust can ever restored.

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