Christopher Wray is resigning. Fine. Good.
FBI Director Christopher Wray announced that he’s resigning. It’s set off a wave of defeatist outrage across social media, complete with posts about how Wray is supposedly “obeying in advance,” along with claims that Wray’s resignation will allow Trump to install whoever he wants into the position.
I’m not sure how much of this sentiment is intentional outrage farming for retweets, and how much of it is simply a fundamental failure to understand how things work. Either way, let’s talk about what this really looks like.
First of all, if Wray had insisted upon staying on the job, Donald Trump would have simply fired him on day one. Wray would have had no recourse. The outcome would have been the same, and Trump would have gotten to look powerful by firing Wray and getting away with it. At least this way, Trump doesn’t get to make that particular flex.
As for the notion that Wray’s resignation somehow makes it easier for Trump to install his own handpicked FBI Director, that doesn’t even make sense. Wray was going to be gone on day one either way. And the fate of Trump’s first choice to replace Wray is going to be decided by the Senate.
Remember, even in bad times like this, not everything that happens is bad. Sometimes it’s just neutral. Wray’s resignation doesn’t help Trump in any measurable way, and might have even cost Trump his opportunity to look powerful by firing him. So who cares? Wray’s departure isn’t really a story. It was always going to happen. The real story is who replaces Wray, and whether the Senate lets Trump have his ridiculous current nominee. The notion that Wray should have refused to quit, just so he could get immediately fired, is merely foot stomping for the sake of foot stomping.
