Christopher Wray is at odds with the man who nominated him to become head of the FBI.

He doesn’t want the president of the United States, Donald Trump, to release a Republican memo that calls the FBI’s conduct into question.

Trump appears ready to disregard the plea of the FBI director. The result might be that Wray quits. He might walk away. He might just then be available to tell the world precisely why he doesn’t want the GOP-authored memo to become public.

Trump already has disparaged the FBI’s performance. He has canned one FBI director already. He fired James Comey because of “this Russia thing,” which then produced the hiring of Robert Mueller as special counsel to look into Trump’s alleged connections to Russian hackers who meddled in our 2016 election.

Wray is now caught in the middle of a political tempest. His agency’s credibility has been questioned by this memo that critics contend is incomplete and that it “cherry picks” circumstances aimed at questioning the conduct of FBI agents active in the early investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russian hackers.

Christopher Wray’s possible resignation could be so very instructive in the continuing chaos that surrounds the Trump administration.

Some of us out here beyond the D.C. Beltway are questioning how the president can continue to engender confidence among the men and women who work within the FBI if he causes the departure of two directors in less than a single year.

The drama builds.