No, video doesn't show Grassley forcing Wray to resign | Fact check
The claim: Video shows Chuck Grassley forcing FBI director to resign
A June 20 Facebook video (direct link, archive link) shows Sen. Chuck Grassley and Sen. Tom Cotton questioning FBI Director Christopher Wray.
"Watch Wray caught RED-HANDED with STUPID 'witness' removal for Hunter...Grassley makes him resign," reads the video's caption.
The video was shared nearly 400 times in two weeks.
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Our rating: False
The video is miscaptioned. It shows Grassley and Cotton questioning Wray during a Senate committee hearing, but nobody mentions Wray resigning. Wray is still the director of the FBI.
Wray doesn't resign in video, Hunter Biden not mentioned
The video shows a clip from an August 4, 2022, Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in which Grassley, an Iowa Republican, asks Wray about Timothy Thibault, a former FBI agent. The two also discuss the location of Afghan refugees who have been "flagged" as potential national security threats. Then, Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, asks Wray about FBI decisions regarding people picketing outside the homes of Supreme Court justices.
It is unclear what the caption is referring to when it says, "Wray caught RED-HANDED with STUPID 'witness' removal for Hunter." No one in the video mentions President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden by name or references a witness "removal."
Hunter Biden recently agreed to plead guilty to federal tax-related offenses and avoided prosecution for a gun offense by agreeing to participate in a pretrial program.
Fact check: Video shows members of Congress talking, not Obama being questioned by aide
There is also nothing in the video about Wray being forced to resign. The FBI website says Wray is the bureau's current director, having started his tenure in 2017.
Paste BN often debunks posts that pair legitimate congressional footage with a misleading caption. This is a style of misinformation called "false framing," Mike Caulfield, a research scientist at the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public, previously told Paste BN.
While the caption is obviously wrong if someone watches the entire video, “the majority of people scroll past these with the sound off," Caulfield said. “The fact it autoplays silently makes it engaging without undermining the framing.”
Paste BN reached out to the Facebook user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Our fact-check sources:
- New York Times, May 18, Taking on the F.B.I., Trump Allies Single Out a Former Agent
- CBS News, Aug. 31, 2022, Top-level FBI agent under fire for role in Hunter Biden investigation resigns
- C-SPAN, August 4, 2022, FBI Oversight Hearing
- FBI, accessed July 2, Christopher Wray
- Paste BN, Nov. 4, 2022, Fact check: Video shows House GOP criticizing Jan. 6 committee, not laughing at Liz Cheney
- Paste BN, June 20, Hunter Biden to plead guilty to two tax charges, resolve federal gun violation: DOJ
- Washington Post, Sept. 10, 2021, U.S. has flagged 44 Afghan evacuees as potential national security risks over the past two weeks, vetting reports show
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