Thursday was going to be a big day in the ongoing effort to hold the FBI accountable, Save Jerseyans. That’s the day that the House Oversight Committee was supposed to commence contempt of Congress hearings for FBI Director Christopher Wray. Wray failed to comply with a subpoena seeking a document which allegedly details “a $5 million criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions.”
But there won’t be a hearing today. Wray caved.
“After weeks of refusing to even admit the FD-1023 record exists, the FBI has caved and is now allowing all members of the Oversight and Accountability Committee to review this unclassified record that memorializes a confidential human source’s conversations with a foreign national who claimed to have bribed then-Vice President Joe Biden,” said Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) in a statement. “Americans have lost trust in the FBI’s ability to enforce the law impartially and demand answers, transparency, and accountability. Allowing all Oversight Committee members to review this record is an important step toward conducting oversight of the FBI and holding it accountable to the American people.”
Wray, an attorney, first became FBI director in August 2017 under Donald Trump, and he’s continued in that role throughout the first three years of the Biden Administration. He’s helmed the once well-regarded federal law enforcement agency during the mishandling of the Hunter Biden laptop matter and, later the Mar-a-Lago raid. The FBI is being weaponized by Democrats under Wray’s “leadership.”
Who recommended Wray to Trump?
The answer is Chris Christie who, in case you missed it, launched a presidential campaign this week which seems to entirely revolve around hyper-personal attacks on Trump (as opposed to proposing Christie’s own positive policy vision). Wray represented Chris Christie during Bridgegate, so back when Chris Christie was playing an active role in the Trump transition, Christie went to bat for his lawyer.
Trump later blamed Christie for the Wray recommendation when it became clear that the FBI Director was a card-carrying member of the Deep State. Christie actually wrote about it in one of his poor-selling books (Republican Rescue).
Business Insider summarized the exchange (as reported by Christie):
The former governor says he defended Wray from Trump’s attacks.
“He’s really not, Mr. President,” Christie says he told Trump. “In fact, he’s done a great job with the FBI. He’s reshaping it, reclaiming it. He’s fired all the people who were executive types in the Comey administration. Chris Wray is doing a great job for you.”
But that only enraged Trump further.
“No, he’s not,” Trump replied, according to Christie. “He’s doing an awful job, and he’s your pick. He was your pick.”
Trump, of course, was proved right on this and Chris Christie was not. It’s one of the flashpoints in the former allies’ relationship which makes you wonder whether Christie – who ran against Trump in 2016 before endorsing him to find a seat at the table – ever at Trump’s best interests at heart.
You can guess my opinion on the matter (but if you’re a regular reader of this site? You don’t have to).
I suspect this Wray business will figure into the 2024 primary at some point. Maybe Trump will bring it up in a debate? That remains to be seen, but when Chris Christie talks about the need to restore maturity and competency to the federal government, voters and opponents alike can fairly wonder whether Christopher Wray is what he has in mind.
