Nominee vows impartial FBI
If confirmed, he will replace fired director James Comey.
Christopher Wray, President Donald Trump’s nominee for FBI director, said Wednesday he would be driven by the “impartial pursuit of justice” if faced with political pressure.
Wray is appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing.
Wray also said the investigation into Russian election interference and possible links to Trump’s campaign was not a “witch hunt,” separating himself from Trump’s repeated assertion.
The top two members of the committee — Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking Democrat Dianne Feinstein of California — said in their opening remarks that they wanted to ensure that Wray would maintain the FBI’s independence in the face of possible political pressure.
Wray did not equivocate when he was given a chance to address the committee: “My loyalty is to the Constitution and to the rule of law,” he said in his opening statement. “Those have been my guideposts throughout my career, and I will continue to adhere to them no matter the test.”
He added: “I will never allow the FBI’s work to be driven by anything other than the facts, the law and the impartial pursuit of justice. Period.”
Trump reportedly had asked the former director, James Comey, for his loyalty and to end the investigation into Michael Flynn, Trump’s first national security adviser. Comey said he pledged only to be honest with the president and demurred on ending the Flynn inquiry.
Wray said no one at the White House had asked him for a loyalty pledge.
“My loyalty is to the Constitution, the rule of law and to the mission of the FBI,” Wray repeated. “No one asked me for any kind of loyalty oath at any point during this process. I sure as heck didn’t offer one.”
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., asked Wray what he would do if the president asked him to take any steps that Wray believed were illegal.
“First, I would try to talk him out of it,” Wray said. “If that failed, I would resign.”
Wray tried to sidestep questions about the investigation into Russian election interference that is being conducted by special counsel Robert Mueller, who was director of the FBI from 2001 to 2013. But Wray acknowledged that he did not agree with Trump’s repeated assertion that the investigation was a “witch hunt.”
“I do not consider Director Mueller to be on a witch hunt,” Wray said.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., pressed Wray on how he would have handled the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s handling of sensitive information. Comey announced last summer that he would not recommend charges in the case, a widely criticized move he later said he made partly in an effort to keep the FBI out of politics.
Wray sought to separate himself from Comey’s actions, saying that he would not have held a news conference.
“In my experience as a prosecutor and as head of the criminal division, I understand there to be department policies that govern public comments about uncharged individuals,” Wray said of the Justice Department. “I think those policies are there for a reason, and I would follow those policies.”
Wray added: “I can’t imagine a situation where I would be giving a press conference on an uncharged individual, much less talking in detail about it.”