FBI Director Chris Wray says people with access to classified information need to be more ‘conscious of the rules’

By Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN

FBI Director Christopher Wray on Thursday addressed the ongoing controversies about classified documents, saying that people with access to those materials need to be more “conscious of the rules.”

“Obviously I can’t comment on any specific investigation, but we have had, for quite a number of years, any number of mishandling investigations,” Wray told reporters during a Justice Department news conference where it announced the takeover of the so-called Hive ransomware group.

“That is, unfortunately, a regular part of our counterintelligence division, counterintelligence programs work,” Wray added. “And people need to be conscious of the rules for classified information and appropriate handling of it. Those rules are there for a reason.”

Attorney General Merrick Garland repeatedly declined to comment on the investigations into classified documents found in the homes of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

“I’ll say as a general matter that people we chose as a special counsel are experienced prosecutors with experience in the Justice Department,” Garland said. “They know how the Justice Department work’s, they know what the department’s practices are, and I’m fully confident that they will resolve these matters one way or the other in the highest traditions of the department.”

Garland appointed Jack Smith as a special counsel to investigate Trump’s handling of classified information in November, and Robert Hur as a special counsel to investigate Biden’s handling of classified documents.

The attorney general has not said whether he plans to appoint yet another special counsel to investigate classified documents found in former Vice President Mike Pence’s Indiana home.

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