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Wray’s comments came during a pre-inauguration security briefing with Vice President Mike Pence and other senior officials tasked with securing the high-profile event, and they mark the FBI Director’s first public appearance. since the rioters stormed the Capitol. He did not respond to any questions from reporters during the briefing.
Wray’s low profile has been the subject of much criticism from lawmakers and former FBI officials, who have said he should be more open about the office’s response to the assault.
“I suspect that almost everyone in the FBI is working to try to track the facts and lock people up,” former FBI Director James Comey told MSNBC Thursday night. “I can’t fully explain why you don’t hear from the director or the head of the Department of Justice.”
Wray appeared to offer a defense of this approach, saying not all of the office’s work was on display publicly.
“Our posture is aggressive, and it will stay that way until the inauguration,” said Wray.
For his part, Pence – who was on Capitol Hill when crowds broke into the Capitol for a period of hours as Congress voted to certify Biden’s victory – said the rioters “had desecrated the seat of our democracy. And said federal officials were working to secure the complex ahead of next week’s massive event.
“We are determined to ensure an orderly transition and a safe inauguration,” he said. “The American people deserve nothing less.”
Although Pence has not publicly stated that he will attend the inauguration, POLITICO previously reported that the vice president must do so. This would contrast him with President Donald Trump, who said on Friday that he would break recent precedents and skip the swearing-in of his successor.
Daniel Hokanson, head of the National Guard Bureau, said thousands more guards were deployed to Washington in the coming days, from about 7,000 to 21,000 on inauguration day. This number matches what the city’s police department chief said on Wednesday had been authorized to help secure the city.
James Murray, the director of the American secret service – who heads security preparations – assured that due to months of preparation, the inauguration would take place differently from the events of January 6, which left at least five dead and dozens . more hurt.
“We are very confident about our security plan,” he said.
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