WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden intends to keep FBI Director Christopher Wray in the job, White House press secretary Jennifer Psaki said Thursday, a day after raising doubts about his future by dodging a question on whether Biden retained confidence in him.
“I caused an unintentional ripple yesterday, so wanted to state very clearly President Biden intends to keep FBI Director Wray on in his role and he has confidence in the job he is doing,” Psaki said in a tweet Thursday.
Wray is serving a 10-year term, but his job was in jeopardy for much of the past year, and Trump and his senior aides repeatedly discussed firing him after November’s election.
During her first White House news briefing on Wednesday, Psaki would not publicly commit to keeping Wray at the agency’s helm.
“I have not spoken with [Biden] about specifically FBI Director Wray in recent days,” Psaki said in response to a question about Wray’s future.
Psaki gave similar replies to a number of unrelated questions, appearing to want to avoid making significant news outside of her prepared remarks about the series of executive actions Biden had taken moments earlier. She promised there would be regular media briefings and that she would follow up with reporters on questions she could not answer.
Separately, a government official, speaking on the condition of anonymity Wednesday to discuss the incoming administration, said that Biden’s team has sent no signals it had concerns about Wray. A lawyer and former Justice Department official, Wray began as FBI director in 2017 after Trump fired his predecessor, James B. Comey, who had served less than four years.