WASHINGTON _ After the release of a classified Republican memo and another early-morning Twitter slam from President Donald Trump, FBI Director Christopher Wray offered his employees a strong show of support Friday _ and made it clear that he has no plans to resign.
"You've all been through a lot in these past nine months and I know it's often been unsettling, to say the least," he said in a video message.
"Talk is cheap," he said. "The work you do is what will endure."
This week, Wray authorized an unusual public statement warning that the FBI had "grave concerns" about the accuracy of the Republican-drafted memo _ a position that put Wray in conflict with the president, who had made it clear that he wanted the memo released.
The challenge fueled speculation that Wray might quit or be forced out over the dispute _ a suggestion he rejected in the video.
"Let me be clear: I stand fully committed to our mission. I stand by our shared determination to do our work independently, and by the book. I stand with you," he said.
The memo, released Friday, criticizes the FBI and Justice Department for their role in obtaining a secret surveillance warrant against Carter Page, who had worked as an adviser for the Trump campaign and had years of contacts with Russians.
Trump said on Twitter that "the top leadership and investigators of the FBI and the Justice Department have politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats and against Republicans." He added that he did not mean to rebuke rank-and-file agents.
Meanwhile, Trump did not provide any assurances about the fate of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the Russia investigation and has already been subjected to rough treatment from Trump.
"You figure that one out," Trump said when reporters asked whether he intended to fire Rosenstein or still had confidence in him.
Rosenstein had no comment, a department spokesperson said.
