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In a tweet on Wednesday morning, Trump announced his selection of Christopher Wray as “a man of impeccable credentials,” promising additional details to come. Perhaps more important than his credentials, Trump stated that he expects Wray will serve as “a fierce guardian of the law and model of integrity.”
The announcement came just 24 hours before Trump’s fired FBI director James Comey is scheduled to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Based on an pre-released copy of his testimony, Comey is expected to share his concerns that the president asked for his loyalty and also requested that he back off the investigation into former national security adviser Mike Flynn’s ties to Russia.
With a storm of questions still surrounding the former FBI director, Wray will be stepping into one of the hottest seats in Washington.
For nearly two years the FBI, under Comey’s leadership, found itself at the center of the most contentious political battles, from the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, to the ongoing investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian government during the 2016 election.
For the Trump White House, the FBI’s Russia investigation has been a drain, as well as the source of a seemingly endless stream of damaging leaks.
The president has repeatedly called the probe a “witch hunt” and a “total hoax.” These comments combined with his alleged demand for Comey’s loyalty, and other circumstances surrounding the firing of the former FBI director have all called into question whether the bureau can be truly independent from politics.
On top of the political challenges, Wray will also have the responsibility of leading the 35,000-person organization and protecting the United States against everything from terrorism and cyber attacks, to white-collar crime and public corruption.
Former assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division and current president of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, Ron Hosko believes that the appointment of a new director represents an opportunity for a “reset.”
“I think there are a lot of voices inside the organization and outside who are looking for a reset, that want to see the FBI get off of the political radar that they’ve been on,” Hosko said.
The appointment of Robert Mueller to be special counsel in charge of the Russia investigation has taken some of the heat off the FBI, but Comey’s precedent of commenting on ongoing investigations and the constant public demand for information will remain challenging. The best approach for the new director may be simply to say less.
Comey walked “a treacherous path” into politics, Hosko noted. “Now the whole organization is kind of hoping to get off it, get out of the limelight. Let’s do our job as quiet professionals and the less said about our work the better.”
Many of the initial responses to the president’s nominee have been positive. Wray has experience working inside the FBI and the Justice Department. He was the assistant attorney general of the FBI Criminal Division under President George W. Bush and served in the post-9/11 environment. He also oversaw the fraud prosecutions of former Enron officials.
Since leaving government, Wray has worked as an attorney at the law firm King & Spalding, representing companies and individuals in a variety of white-collar crime and regulatory cases.
Most recently, he served as the personal lawyer for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in the “Bridgegate” scandal, where the governor was accused of closing lanes on the George Washington Bridge to hurt his political opponents. Christie served briefly as the head of Trump’s presidential transition team and was once rumored to be a top pick to lead the Justice Department.
With Wray’s history at the FBI, a reputation for understanding the structure and mission of the organization, and the fact that “he doesn’t have a big D or a big R after his name,” Hosko anticipates the president’s nominee will be “received warmly” by the men and women of the FBI.
He can expect a bruising confirmation process in the Senate, though.
Members of Congress have already voiced concerns that the new director must be independent from the president. Comey’s testimony alleging Trump told him “I need loyalty, I expect loyalty” during a private meeting, only underscores the point.
Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), a top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee told reporters on Wednesday that he will be scrutinizing Wray to ensure that he has the ability to lead the FBI and “the strength of character to stand up to any politician who tries to divert a legitimate criminal investigation.”
In the wake of Comey’s firing, Durbin suggested that Trump “may be obstructing justice” because of his decision to remove the individual overseeing the Trump-Russia investigation.
With Christopher Wray now under consideration, the senator emphasized, “I can’t think of a more important law enforcement job at this moment in our history.”
Sen. Orrin Hatch (Utah), former chairman of the Judiciary Committee, also emphasized that Wray’s nomination comes “at a crucial time for the Bureau.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell issued a statement on the nomination expressing his confidence that Wray “is more than qualified and quite capable of shouldering this important responsibility.”
Despite the complicated backdrop of Wray’s confirmation, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) sees no reason to hold up the president’s nominee and believes he could be confirmed before August.
“He meets all of my preconditions,” Whitehouse told reporters. “[He is] not a politician, has experience with the Department of Justice and experience with federal law enforcement. So I’m still very wide open.”
The only caveat, “we obviously need to be convinced that he will be as independent as we expect in these circumstances.”
If he is confirmed, Wray will also have to earn the trust of President Trump, who has been plagued by classified intelligence leaks that he believes may be coming from the FBI.
On numerous occasions, Trump has suggested that the intelligence community, and the FBI specifically, has been the source of the illegal disclosures. In February, he chastized Comey and the FBI leadership for being “totally unable” to stop the leaks and catch the “leakers.”
On Monday, the Department of Justice announced it had made the first arrest of a national security “leaker” under the Trump administration, 25-year-old federal contractor Reality Winner. The arrest was announced only hours after The Intercept published a story on a classified NSA memo she allegedly provided the news outlet.
While the arrest may be gratifying to some in the Trump White House, most leak investigations are not wrapped up so quickly.
“I can understand [Trump’s] frustration. I’m frustrated by the leaks as well,” Hosko said. But he advised the president to be patient with the often complex and sometimes very lengthy process of investigating a national security leak.
“It may create division and distrust with his selection, because [the president] is frustrated with the pace,” he warned, adding that “hopefully he’ll grow in his trust of his selection.”
For others, like Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton, the president’s concerns that the FBI may be intentionally trying to undermine his administration are valid, and it will be up to the new director to clean house.
“The FBI leadership is/was anti-Trump,” Fitton tweeted after the president announced his nominee.
Later, Fitton explained that when it comes to national security leaks, “there is good reason to believe the FBI is part of the problem.”
His advice: “There really needs to be a top to bottom replacement of the FBI leadership.”
