In a significant development, the Washington-based Oversight Project has filed a criminal referral against former FBI Director Christopher Wray, alleging serious misconduct. The referral, submitted to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI, accuses Wray of perjury, obstruction of proceedings before Congress, and making false statements in relation to the FBI’s handling of an anti-Catholic memo and a Chinese operation to interfere in the 2020 election.
The Oversight Project claims that Wray provided false testimony to Congress, deliberately concealing facts that could be politically damaging. According to Oversight Project President Mike Howell, "This is obstruction. This is perjury. This is a cover-up."
Central to the allegations is a scheme purportedly orchestrated by Chinese nationals to distribute fake driver's licenses, with the intent to influence the 2020 election in favor of then-candidate Joe Biden. Current FBI Director Kash Patel has accused Wray of suppressing intelligence related to this operation. Patel pointed to an Internal Intelligence Report, allegedly published and then inexplicably "recalled" by the FBI's Albany field office, which contradicts Wray's sworn testimony denying China's efforts to undermine the election.
Declassified documents provided to Senator Chuck Grassley appear to support Patel's account, indicating that senior FBI officials were aware of the Chinese plot and actively suppressed it. Patel told the Daily Mail, "This wasn’t a misunderstanding. This was a deliberate act to cover up the truth."
The referral also criticizes Wray for his statements about the anti-Catholic memo from the Richmond FBI office, which targeted traditional Catholics as potential "violent extremists" and relied on research from the Southern Poverty Law Center. Wray had testified that the memo was an isolated incident, quickly retracted by him. However, records released by Grassley suggest a broader issue, with over a dozen FBI documents using biased sources and more field offices involved than previously disclosed.
Moreover, Grassley uncovered a second, draft memo on Catholic "extremism" that Wray failed to disclose, intended for distribution across the FBI as a Strategic Perspective Executive Analytic Report (SPEAR). The Oversight Project argues that Wray's omission of this second document from his testimony is further evidence of his attempt to mislead lawmakers and obstruct congressional oversight.
The allegations against Wray, if proven true, could lead to prosecution. The referral has sent shockwaves through the law enforcement and political communities, raising questions about the integrity of FBI operations and the potential for political bias within the agency.
The implications of this referral are far-reaching, potentially impacting public trust in the FBI and the DOJ's willingness to hold its leaders accountable. As the story unfolds, the nation watches closely to see how the DOJ will respond to these serious charges against a former top law enforcement official.
