JD Vance, Christopher Wray speak on Jan. 6 ahead of Trump inauguration

[craig nigrelli]

TO POLITICS – AS CHANGES ARE UNDERWAY IN WASHINGTON — TWO BIG INTERVIEWS ARE MAKING HEADLINES THIS MORNING. THE INCOMING VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE AND THE OUTGOING FBI DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER WRAY GAVE THEIR THOUGHTS TO FOX NEWS AND CBS NEWS, RESPECTFULLY, WITH JUST ONE WEEK TO GO UNTIL INAUGURATION DAY.

IN HIS FIRST INTERVIEW SINCE LEAVING THE SENATE, VANCE SPOKE TO FOX NEWS SUNDAY OF EXECUTIVE ORDERS CONCERNING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION ON DAY ONE OF THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION AND OF BEING HOPEFUL THERE SOON WILL BE A CEASE-FIRE DEAL IN THE WAR BETWEEN ISRAEL AND HAMAS.

VANCE WAS ALSO ASKED ABOUT PRESIDENT-ELECT DONALD TRUMP’S PLANS TO PARDON THOSE CONVICTED IN CONNECTION WITH THE JANUARY 6TH, storming of the capitol.

I think it’s very simple look if you protested peacefully on January the 6th and you’ve had Meritt Garland’s Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned. If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned. And there’s a little bit of a gray area there but we’re very much committed to seeing the equal administration of law and there are a lot of people we think in the wake of January the 6th who were prosecuted unfairly we need to rectify that.

OVER ON 60 MINUTES, FBI DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER WRAY EXPLAINED HIS DECISION TO STEP DOWN THREE YEARS BEFORE THE END OF HIS 10-YEAR TERM. DONALD TRUMP APPOINTED WRAY IN 20-17, DURING TRUMPS FIRST ADMINISTRATION.  THE F-B-I DIRECTOR THEN OVERSAW INVESTIGATIONS INTO TRUMP, AS WELL AS PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN AND BIDEN’S SON HUNTER. PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP INTENDS TO REPLACE CHRISTOPHER WRAY WITH FORMER AIDE KASH PATEL.

CHRISTOPHER WRAY | FBI DIRECTOR

“Well, my decision to retire from the FBI, I have to tell you it was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make. I care deeply, deeply about the FBI, about our mission and in particular about our people. But the president-elect had made clear that he intended to make a change, and the law is that, that is something he is able to do for any reason or no reason at all. My conclusion was that the thing that was best for the Bureau was to try to do this in an orderly way, to not thrust the FBI deeper into the fray.”

WRAY WAS ALSO ASKED ABOUT TRUMP’S PLANS TO PARDON MANY OF THE ROUGHLY 1,500 PEOPLE CHARGED WITH FEDERAL CRIMES IN THE JANUARY 6TH RIOTS.

“I do think it’s important to step back and remember that we’re talking about hundreds of people who are convicted, most of them pled guilty of serious federal crimes. Heck, I think 170 or so of them pled guilty to assaulting law enforcement, dozens of them with dangerous or deadly weapons. And there’s a whole bunch that were convicted of seditious conspiracy.”

AFTER VANCE’S INTERVIEW AIRED ON FOX, THE VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT RESPONDED TO A CRITIC ON X — SAYING TRUMP WILL BE LOOKING AT EACH CASE CONCERNING JANUARY 6TH INDIVIDUALLY.