By Allan Lengel
Ex-President Donald Trump has asked close advisers for names of FBI agents and Justice Department lawyers working on his criminal probes so he can fire them if he returns to the White House, Rolling Stone magazine reports.
Citing “two sources with direct knowledge of the matter and another person briefed on it,” the magazine reports that Trump wants to purge the FBI and DOJ of those who have been involved in the witch hunts.
Trump has also been saying for months that he would fire FBI Director Christopher Wray on “day one” if he is re-elected president.
Trump fired FBI Director James Comey on May 9, 2017, and subsequently replaced him with Wray, a much lower-key director.
Still, it was unclear near the end of Trump’s term if Wray would survive.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has also vowed to fire Wray.
An FBI director is nominated by a president for a 10-year term, and is confirmed by the U.S. Senate. A president can fire a director before the term is over, as was the case with Comey.
Comey, who was a registered Republican at the time, was nominated by President Barack Obama in 2013.
