FBI Director Christopher Wray (File photo)

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The FBI’s new director warned agents and others in federal government to resist pressure to act unethically.

“At some point for everybody in this room and everybody in my organization, our integrity will be tested,” Christopher Wray told a Washington audience of investigators who work for federal government inspectors general, Politico reports. “It happens to everybody. It happens to all of us. It could be at a time where we’re being asked to make a decision that is inconsistent with what we know is right and what we know is true, where we’ll be asked to do something without fully thinking it through.”

Wray offered no details of the ethical challenges he expects to face, but he urged internal government watchdogs to resist the pressure.

“It could be at a time we think no one will notice, no one will know,” the FBI chief said. “I would argue that actually those are the times where we need to stay most true to our core integrity and our professionalism. To think critically and thoughtfully and to do what’s right, not just for ourselves individually so we can look ourselves in the mirror as leaders, but for our agencies and the government and the public that we all serve.”

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com

The salacious dossier that paints President Donald Trump in a less than favorable light continues to haunt the commander-in-chief, who has done everything to try and discredit it.

The latest: On Thursday Trump suggested  the Democratic Party, the FBI or the Kremlin could have bankrolled the report, that has yet to be substantiated by anyone in Washington, Politico reports.

“Workers of firm involved with the discredited and Fake Dossier take the 5th. Who paid for it, Russia, the FBI or the Dems (or all)?” Trump wrote on Twitter Thursday. He did not offer any evidence to support his suggestion that Russia, the FBI or the Democratic Party funded the dossier.

Two officials from the firm behind the dossier, Fusion GPS, appeared before the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday, but answered no questions, and instead invoking their fifth amendment rights against self-incrimination, Bloomberg reports.

President Trump, via White House

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Amid months of speculation that Donald Trump may fire the Justice Department’s special counsel, the president said Monday he is not considering terminating Robert Mueller, who is leading the investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential election.

Trump made the pronouncement when asked about the investigation by reporters in the Rose Garden, CNN reports. 

“The whole Russian thing was an excuse for the Democrats losing the election,” Trump said before adding there’s been “absolutely no collusion.”

“It’s been stated that they have no collusion. They ought to get to the end of it because I think the American public is sick of it.”

Rep. Tom Marino

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

President Trump’s top pick for the nation’s drug czar, Rep. Tom Marino, has withdrawn his name from consideration, Trump tweeted Tuesday morning.

Calls mounted for Trump to dump Marino following a scathing Washington Post/“60 Minutes” story that exposed the congressman for siding with drug companies over the DEA’s battle to address the opioid crisis.

On Twitter, Trump wrote, “Rep.Tom Marino has informed me that he is withdrawing his name from consideration as drug czar. Tom is a fine man and a great Congressman!”

Trump told reporters Monday that he “will make a change” if he decides Marino’s actions curbed the fight against opioid abuse.

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• FBI, DC Police Ask for Public’s Help Finding Missing 11-Year-Old
• Thurgood Marshall Had a Secret Relationship with the FBI
• FBI: 16-Year-Old Used Nude Photos Blackmail Dozens of Classmates
• DEA to Kick Off Annual Red Ribbon Campaign

Kirstjen Nielsen, via Twitter

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The White House announced Wednesday that President Trump plans to nominate Kirstjen Nielsen, a top White House aide, to lead the Department of Homeland Security.

Nielsen, 45, a cyber security expert with an extensive background in homeland security, has a close working relationship with Trump’s chief of staff John Kelly. When Kelly served as Homeland Security secretary until recently, Nielsen was his top aide. When Kelly moved to the White House in July, Nielsen joined him as his principal deputy chief of staff.

Nielsen worked on homeland security issues during stings with the TSA and on the White House Homeland Security Council under George W. Bush.

Also considered for the job was House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul of Texas.

President Trump, via White House

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Donald Trump’s lawyers say the president is willing to sit down for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller as part of his investigation into Russia’s role in the presidential election.

Politico reports that Trump’s lawyers support the idea because it will speed up the investigation and create more confidence that the president has nothing to hide. 

Trump is so eager for an interview that he may volunteer for it if a request isn’t made by Thanksgiving.

But an interview carries risks for Trump, who may be questioned about obstruction of justice allegations for firing then-FBI Director James Comey. Trump also could be peppered with questions about his relationship with the Kremlin.

“Whatever happens with regard to whether or not, or how, the special counsel might want to interview the president, there’s no reason to expect that would be combative,” the senior White House official explained.

Vice President Mike Pence.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Calling Vice President Mike Pence’s early departure from an NFL game on Sunday a political stunt, two top Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee are urging the Secret Service to disclose the cost of the trip in Indianapolis.

The letter to Secret Service Director Randolph Alles on Wednesday accused Pence of billing taxpayers for a political stunt.

“The costs associated with the Vice President traveling to Indianapolis and attending a large, public event are immense, and we are deeply concerned that the Trump Administration finds it appropriate to expend taxpayer resources to play political games,” reads the letter by Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman.

The letter also asks whether any of the agents who were present lost their eligibility for overtime because of statutory pay limits.

The Hill wrote:

Pence flew from Las Vegas to Indianapolis, where he attended a matchup between the Colts and the San Francisco 49ers. Reporters traveling with the vice president were told by a staffer to wait in their vans outside the stadium because of the possibility of “an early departure from the game.”

Pence soon left, after some players knelt in protest during “The Star-Spangled Banner.” President Trump later tweeted that he had told the vice president to leave if any players took a knee.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

A federal judge drastically scaled back a Justice Department warrant seeking digital data about visitors to an anti-Trump website that helped organize protests against the president.

Superior Court Chief Judge Robert E. Morin ruled that the Los Angeles web host may redact information that identifies site visitors because of constitutional rights to privacy, the Los Angeles Times reports. 

The Justice Department cannot force the disclosure of identifying information unless there is evidence of criminal activity.

“While the government has the right to execute its warrant, it does not have the right to rummage through the information contained on DreamHost’s website and discover the identity of, or access communications by, individuals not participating in alleged criminal activity, particularly those persons who were engaging in protected 1st Amendment activities,” Morin wrote.

In July, the Justice Department filed a search warrant for information on the 1.3 million visits to the website, disruptj20.org.