CHRIS WRAY is formally installed as the new FBI director in a ceremony notable for the absence of the man who appointed him: President Donald Trump.
WASHINGTON — Chris Wray was formally installed as the new FBI director Thursday in a ceremony notable for the absence of the man who appointed him: President Donald Trump.
The ceremony in a courtyard at FBI headquarters was largely a formality since Wray has been on the job for nearly two months.
Wray’s two direct predecessors as FBI director, James Comey and Robert Mueller, were also absent, avoiding potentially uncomfortable encounters amid an investigation that touches the White House.
Trump fired Comey in May, and Mueller was appointed as special counsel the following week to oversee an FBI investigation into potential coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.
Part of that probe includes an investigation into Comey’s firing.
Trump’s absence was striking given that President Barack Obama attended the most recent FBI director installation ceremony, for Comey in 2013.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who wrote the memo that the White House initially held up as justification for Comey’s firing, attended the 45-minutes ceremony.
“Our mission is simple but profound — to protect the American people and to uphold the Constitution,” Wray said.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who recused himself from the Russia investigation in March and was later involved in Trump’s decision to fire Comey, praised Wray as an “American patriot.”
Wray was a former highranking Justice Department official during the George W. Bush administration, serving as head of its criminal division.
He most recently worked in private law practice in Atlanta.