Wray takes aim at GOP claims of FBI politicization

FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday navigated hours of questions about the credibility of the bureau, as House Judiciary Committee Republicans increasingly seek to pin the agency as politically biased.

Wray, a Trump appointee, was at times aided by Democrats who sought to defend the bureau’s actions by highlighting wrongdoing by Trump or his associates.

Still, the blurry fault lines facing the agency were on display as some Democrats attacked the FBI’s handling of the Trump investigation and its spy tools, while Wray got a rare thank you from a Republican for his work helming the agency.

Republicans remained largely focused on a series of short-lived memos or prosecutions of conservatives they argue shows the agency unfairly targets the right.  

FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before a House Committee on the Judiciary oversight hearing, Wednesday, July 12, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Wray’s responses were some of the most pointed for the mild-mannered director, who has faced a brewing grudge match with the GOP all but guaranteed to take center stage following the Republican takeover of Congress.

In his opening remarks, he nodded to the work in a small bureau in Ohio – one that happens to rest in the district of Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), one of the bureau’s fiercest critics. 

“The work the men and women of the FBI do to protect the American people goes way beyond the one or two investigations that seem to capture all the headlines,” Wray said.

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And in a heated exchange with Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.), Wray pointed to his longstanding registration as a Republican.

“The idea that I’m biased against conservatives seems somewhat insane to me, given my own personal background,” he said.

GOP lawmakers argued that Americans no longer trust the nation’s premier law enforcement agency.

“We’re seeing the polling numbers that the FBI is tanking, and it’s under your watch,” Rep. Barry Moore (R-Ala.) said. 

“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. Without that no republic can survive,” Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) said.

“They’ve seen evidence that it’s being used as a political tool by the Biden administration.”

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chair of the House Committee on the Judiciary, speaks during an oversight hearing with FBI Director Christopher Wray, Wednesday, July 12, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Democrats largely defended the FBI. New York Rep. Jerold Nadler, the top Democrat on the committee, countered GOP arguments of political bias by offering a timeline of the Mar-a-Lago case he said showed “all the opportunities Trump had to produce these documents.”

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) ran through a list of Trump associates — six in total — who have since pleaded guilty or been convicted in court of various crimes, all while the Department of Justice was under Republican leadership.

“What these facts show is we don’t have a two tiered system of justice. We have one Department of Justice that goes after criminals regardless of party ideology,” Lieu said. 

“It is not the fault of the FBI that Donald Trump surrounded himself with criminals. Donald Trump brought that upon himself. Thank you to the FBI for exposing the cesspool of corruption of these Trump associates.”

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) addresses reporters during a press conference on Tuesday, April 18, 2023 following a Democratic Caucus meeting. (Greg Nash)

Not all the critiques or accolades were split along party lines. 

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) criticized the FBI for not being more aggressive, arguing “the FBI delayed and showed unprecedented caution before investigating the ex-president even when there was a potential threat to national security.”

And Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) thanked Wray for his work in “protecting law-abiding Americans from the evil that exists all around us.”

“You’re still a registered Republican, and I hope you don’t change your party affiliation after this hearing is over,” Buck said.

A pushback on GOP pet issues

FBI Director Christopher Wray departs during a break in a House Committee on the Judiciary oversight hearing, Wednesday, July 12, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Republicans remained focused on two memos.

One directed the FBI to coordinate with local law enforcement as school boards and educators faced a rising number of violent threats.

Wray denied that the FBI took any improper actions against parents as a result of the memo, countering GOP claims the agency sought to label parents as domestic terrorists. He said a “threat tag” was created to track reports of threats, harassment and violence against school officials, but school board meetings weren’t linked to the reports received.

“We opened 25 assessments into reports that were tagged, but none of those involved incidents at school board meetings and, to my knowledge, FBI has not opened investigations on any parent for exercising speech at school,” Wray said.

Several lawmakers focused on a memo written by an agent in the Richmond, Va., field office that detailed growing overlap between white nationalist groups and “Radical-Traditionalist Catholics,” which it identifies as a small minority within the church. Wray swiftly ordered the memo removed, saying it 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, calling it “a single product by a single field office.”

Wray was also asked to respond to calls from some within the GOP to defund his agency; Jordan has asked appropriators to withhold from the FBI any funding “not absolutely essential for the agency to execute its mission.”

“It would be disastrous for 38,000 hardworking career law enforcement personnel in their families, but more importantly, in many ways, it would hurt our great state, local law enforcement partners who depend on us every day to work with them on a whole slew of challenging threats,” Wray said.

“It 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.”

The FBI director also made efforts to debunk claims the FBI played a role in instigating the Capitol attack as he faced numerous questions about Jan. 6, saying that the agency did not know of plans to breach the Capitol, though they were aware of potential violence.

“This notion that somehow the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 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,” Wray said.

Rep. Mary Jay Scanlon (D-Pa.) blamed the GOP for contributing to distrust of the FBI by “embrac[ing] dangerous conspiracy theories that undermine our federal law enforcement.”

“I find it disingenuous for members of Congress to harangue the head of the FBI about people losing faith in the FBI when those same members have been trumpeting lies and conspiracy theories about the agency for months,” she said.

Social media and FISA

Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) leaves a closed-door House Republican Conference meeting on Tuesday, June 6, 2023. (Greg Nash)

Republicans – and at times Democrats – also zeroed in on civil rights issues, focusing both on a court order limiting the Biden administration’s communication with social media companies over free speech concerns, as well as FBI spy tools.

After a GOP-led challenge to the administration’s efforts to curb disinformation, a federal judge ruled that several agencies and officials — including the FBI — cannot contact social media companies relating to the “removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech posted on social-media platforms.” DOJ has since appealed the order.

“It explains in detail that the FBI has been directly involved in what the court says is ‘arguably the most massive attack against free speech in United States history,’” Rep. Johnson, of Louisiana, said during the hearing.

Wray pushed back against lawmakers’ assertions, claiming the agency does not ask social media companies to remove content. Instead, he said it alerts the platforms when other intelligence agencies provide them with information about a foreign intelligence service operating accounts on the platform.

“We will call social media companies’ attention to that, but at the end of the day, we’re very clear that it’s up to the social media companies to decide whether to do something,” Wray said.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle also asked about Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) authorities.  

The skepticism is a significant issue for the FBI. It, along with other national security agencies, is pushing for renewal of Section 702 of the law, which expires in December and allows for warrantless surveillance of foreign nationals located abroad.

But Americans’ communications with those individuals can be swept up in those searches.

Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.) said the tool gives the FBI too broad of access to Americans’ data.

“It looks like a framework that enables the FBI to spy on countless Americans,” he said.

And Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) cited bipartisan concerns about reauthorization.

“Unless we really understand what measures the FBI is taking to ensure that people’s privacy is protected, I think it’s going to be a very difficult reauthorization process.” she said.

Wray said the bureau has had issues with 702 but has deployed new guardrails.

“Let’s be clear, we have had problems,” he said, noting they have rolled out numerous reforms since problems have been identified.

“And so we’re going to keep working at this. That is not a one and done from my perspective.”