Christopher Wray appeared before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday and was questioned by lawmakers about the neutrality of the FBI. The official, who assumed his post in May 2017, disassociated himself from the accusations and assured that the Bureau’s work “goes far beyond one or two investigations that seem to capture all the headlines.”
From the start, Republicans pointed out that Americans have less and less trust in institutions, something recently reported by Voz Media.
“The American people have lost faith in the FBI. All of our constituents are demanding that we get this situation under control, and we have to do that. That’s our responsibility. This is not a political party issue, sir. This is about whether the very system of justice in our country can be trusted anymore,” said Congressman Mike Johnson (R-LA).
Rep. @MattGaetz reads the Hunter Biden WhatsApp Text to Christopher Wray and asks “Are you protecting the Bidens?” pic.twitter.com/d7bD1VBBti
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) July 12, 2023
Is the FBI against conservatives?
“We’re seeing the polling numbers that the FBI is tanking, and it’s under your watch,” Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL) indicated. One of the most striking exchanges involved Harriet Hageman (R-WY), who replaced Liz Cheney in Wyoming’s only House seat.
The Republican accused him of being biased against conservatives, something Wray dismissed by recalling his Republican background. For example, he worked in the George W. Bush administration. “The idea that I’m biased against conservatives seems somewhat insane to me, given my own personal background,” replied the official.
Later, some Republicans mentioned a memo written by a Richmond (Virginia) agent detailing the growing overlap between white nationalists and “radical-traditionalist Catholics,” identified by the document as a small minority within the Church.
Wray claimed the memo violated the agency’s policies on conducting investigations based on religious affiliation. “That product is not something that I will defend or excuse. It’s something that I thought was appalling and removed it”, he said, adding that it was a “unique product from a single field office.”
FBI Dir. Christopher Wray Refuses to Answer If There Was Even One FBI Agent in the January 6th Crowd
"You're ducking the question because you don't want to answer for the fact that you had at least one, and somehow missed understanding that some of the individuals were very… pic.twitter.com/1RIr9G7mv9
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) July 12, 2023
Reduction of FBI and January 6
As for the voices calling for an FBI downsizing, the official said that such a measure “would hurt the American people, neighborhoods and communities all across this country, the people we’re protecting from cartels, violent criminals, gang members, predators, foreign and domestic terrorists, cyberattacks, I could go on and on. And the people that would help would be those same violent gangs and cartels, foreign terrorists, Chinese spies, hackers and so forth.”
In addition, Wray denied that the FBI played any role in the January 6, 2021, Capitol takeover. According to him, the agency did not know the protesters’ plans, although they did have violence as one of the possibilities.
“This notion that somehow the violence at the Capitol on January 6 was part of some operation orchestrated by FBI sources and agents is ludicrous and is a disservice to our brave, hardworking, dedicated men and women,” he said.
