The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
FBI nominee Wray gains Blumenthal’s endorsement
WASHINGTON » Christopher Wray, Donald Trump’s choice to replace ousted FBI Director James Comey, told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that he would sooner resign than follow presidential directions to do something unethical or unlawful.
“I believe to my core that there is only one right way to do this job, and that is with strict independence,” he said during his confirmation hearing. “Without fear, without favoritism and certainly without regard to any partisan, political influence.”
Wray, a former federal prosecutor, scooped up the president’s nomination last month after Trump reportedly considered several other candidates to be the FBI’s top cop — including Connecticut’s former Sen. Joe Lieberman.
Among others, Wray fielded questions from Sen. Richard Blumenthal, DConn., a member of the Judiciary Committee. During his questioning, Blumenthal told Wray that he will support him as he works against “a firestorm brewing that will threaten the FBI.” After the hearing, Blumenthal said he intends to vote in favor of Wray’s confirmation.
“I do believe that you will provide the kind of independence and integrity that the FBI needs based on your record and your experience and expertise,” Blumenthal said. “We will be counting on you to protect the FBI.”
Blumenthal also echoed questions targeting Wray’s commitment to an independent FBI, asking him if he would be willing to take appropriate action if the Bureau’s independence is put at risk.
“You cannot take on a position like this without resolving in advance that you have to be willing to quit or be fired at a moment’s notice in order to stand up for what you think is right,” Wray, who spent years in Connecticut pursuing bachelor’s and law degrees at Yale, told Blumenthal.
During a fiery back-andforth between Wray and Sen. Lindsey Graham, RS.C., the nominee dodged questions about Donald Trump Jr.’s June 2016 emails about meeting a government-connected Russian lawyer with damaging information about Hillary Clinton.
Wray said he had not heard about the interaction until Wednesday, a day after Trump Jr. disclosed the email chain himself.
In one of the emails, Trump Jr. was told the lawyer had “high-level and sensitive” information that was “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.” The president’s oldest son replied: “I love it.”
Later, when Blumenthal pursued the subject, Wray said he could not comment on whether Trump Jr.’s emails qualified as evidence of criminal intent, because “I’m really not up to speed on it.”
But Wray also said he had no reason to doubt the intelligence community’s conclusions that Russia interfered with the 2016 elections.
“I think Russia is a foreign nation that we have to deal with very warily,” he said. “I think an effort to interfere with our elections is an adversarial act.”
If confirmed, Wray would replace Comey, whom Trump fired in May and later explained that he was irked by Comey and “this Russia thing.”
In an exchange with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Wray also dismissed reports that he was involved with a series of so-called Department of Justice “torture memos” advising officials to use enhanced interrogation methods, like waterboarding, on terrorists in the early 2000s after the 9/11 attacks.
An American Civil Liberties Union database on the memos includes redacted emails to and from Wray, then a senior-level DOJ official.
”My view is that torture is wrong, it’s unacceptable, it’s illegal and I think it’s ineffective,” he said, adding that he does not recall reviewing or approving the memos, and “that’s the kind of thing I would remember.”
Feinstein quipped back: “I would hope so.”