'Hard disagree': CNN conservative sparks clash by defending Trump's FBI move

A CNN conservative faced pushback for arguing that that FBI director Christopher Wray might as well have resigned since Donald Trump intended to fire him once he took office.

The Trump-appointed Wray announced Wednesday that he would step down at the end of President Joe Biden's administration, and panelists on "CNN This Morning" debated whether he made the right decision in the face of his likely termination, since Trump has already nominated MAGA loyalist Kash Patel to replace him.

"We're talking about the difference between the reaction to the firing of [former FBI director James] Comey and now sort of Wray going out with a whimper, not a bang," said Kate Bedingfield, a former White House communications director for Biden. "It does, you know, and again, I understand his, you know, to your point, I understand the personal desire to not endure what would be a pretty hellacious public moment, but it does have the effect of kind of normalizing what Trump is doing here, and that seems dangerous to me."

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Mike Dubke, who served as White House communications for Trump at the time he fired Comey in early 2017, conceded that appointing Patel while Wray was still on the job was abnormal but said most people wouldn't recognize that.

"Let's be clear, I mean, he was going to fire Wray regardless," Dubke said. "I agree to your point, yeah, on both of those sides, and it was an unusual step for him to also nominate Patel before they have Wray either resigning or stepping aside as he has. I think for the American people, though, you know, the 10-year term is not a usual term of office. It's probably not that well known, and so it's, I'm sure, for the casual observer it's, it's expected that a new president comes in..."

"Ooh, hard, hard, hard, hard, hard disagree on that point," interjected legal analyst Elliot Williams. "Here's why: It's the point of the 10-year term is to ensure that every FBI director traverses presidential administrations and to get these kind of political questions out of the role of the FBI."

"Same with the federal reserve," Dubke countered. "But my point is, I think for the casual American observer, this seems like a normal course of business. "

"But in some ways, that's why it seems so dangerous," Bedingfield added. "I mean, I would argue we don't want it to seem like a normal course of business. I mean, this is the president, the incoming president, saying, 'I don't like the person who is heading up the the FBI because I believe he's going to, you know, he has pursued me in the past, when I have, I would say, taken criminal action, and I'm concerned that he's going to hold me accountable in the future.' So we don't, I don't think we want that to be normal."

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