(11 Dec 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Washington – 11 December 2024
1. Wide, Senate office building lobby
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Mike Rounds, (R) South Dakota:
"It does not surprise me. I think once the President indicated that he would prefer to have someone else, I think Chris Wray decided that this was the appropriate time for him to step away. It does not surprise me at all."
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Michael Bennet, (D) Colorado:
"I think he’s served a Republican president, a Democratic president and more important the American people well and he’s provided really important public service and acted with integrity."
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Mark Kelly, (D), Arizona:
"Obviously, a tough decision for him. His term was, you know, supposed to be five years, you know, for a reason. He was nominated by initially by the former president, President Trump. But I you know, it’s pretty clear to me and I think it should be clear to the American people that Donald Trump wanted to go in a different direction. But I do think he’s been a very effective FBI Director. You know, I think it’ll be a loss. I think he’s done a good job. And my hope was that he would continue to serve through the rest of his term. Thank you."
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. James Lankford, (R) Oklahoma:
"He serves the country well now. And that I think you see that President Trump both appointed him to that role, but has also lost trust for him and his planning on appointing someone else to that role. So it’s a good thing for him to be able to do for the country and grateful for that service and for his way that he’s actually stepping down as well."
(Reporter: "Do you believe that Mr. Patel is going to be a good person to step in and fill that role?")
Lankford: "Yeah, he’ll go through all the process on that. Obviously we’ve done no hearings on Patel at this point at all. So Kash is getting a chance to be able to move the people around and not have the opportunity to meet with him yet, but he’ll step forward on that. But either way, it looks pretty clear that President Trump is planning on putting someone in an FBI role that he trusts. But I think the hearings are going to go well for Kash quite frankly."
6. Wide, Senate office building lobby
STORYLINE:
Senators reacted to FBI Director Christopher Wray’s plan to resign at the end of Biden’s term in January on Wednesday.
The announcement Wednesday comes a week and a half after President-elect Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate loyalist Kash Patel for the position.
At a town hall meeting with bureau workers, Wray said he would be stepping down “after weeks of careful thought.”
Senator Mark Kelly said that he hopes Wray would continue to serve through the rest of his term, but noted that it is clear to the American people that Donald Trump wanted to go in a different direction.
"I do think he’s been a very effective FBI Director. I think it’ll be a loss. I think he’s done a good job," said Senator Kelly.
When asked by reporters if Kash Patel would be a good person to fill the role, Senator James Lankford said that no hearings had been held on Patel yet but believed the hearings would go well for Patel.
Wray had previously been named by Trump and began the 10-year term. a length meant to insulate the agency from the political influence of changing administrations — in 2017, after Trump fired then-FBI Director, James Comey.
AP Video by Serkan Gurbuz
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