Georgia attorney Christopher Wray, President Donald Trump's pick to lead the FBI, is taking his turn before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday morning, but much of the attention will be focused on people who won't be in the room.
Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr., and Russian President Vladimir Putin won't be far from the forefront during Wray's 9:30 a.m. confirmation hearing. Neither will Wray's former colleagues, fired FBI Director James Comey and Robert Mueller, the special counsel who's been tasked with investigating possible ties between Trump's campaign and the Russian government ahead of last year's election.
Wray, himself, is considered to be a fairly noncontroversial choice to lead the FBI — "a man of impeccable credentials," as Trump tweeted in announcing the nomination. The Atlanta-based attorney and former George W. Bush administration official is expected to be confirmed by the Senate at some point over the next several weeks.
What Republicans and Democrats will be watching for closely on Wednesday is how Wray plans to position himself between the president, Congress, and the law enforcement and intelligence communities should he be confirmed to one of Washington’s highest-profile positions.
Here’s what to watch for:
Russia, Russia, Russia
The dark cloud that’s dogged Trump since he was sworn in is also expected to cast a shadow over Wray’s confirmation hearing. Comey disclosed this spring that the FBI is investigating whether Trump officials colluded with the Kremlin in order to influence the 2016 election. Wray will undoubtedly be questioned extensively on his thoughts about the probe, Russia’s meddling last year and Trump’s response.
For many of the senators there, it will also mark their first turn before the cameras since the president's son tweeted on Tuesday the emails he sent to an intermediary ahead of a meeting last year with a Russian lawyer who claimed to have dirt on Hillary Clinton. Many likely won't hesitate to share their reaction. Another topic of conversation could be the state-run Russian oil companies that Wray's Atlanta-based law firm, King & Spalding, represents.
Loyalty and independence
Trump was previously slammed by some senators for overstepping when he demanded loyalty from Comey before ultimately firing him. FBI directors are expected to be independent from the president, even though they’re nominated and can be fired by the commander in chief. Expect Democrats to question Wray extensively on whether Trump extracted a similar pledge from him in exchange for the FBI nomination. They will also seek assurances from Wray that he will be independent from Trump and pledges that he won’t be afraid to stand up to the president when he disagrees with him.
Famous ex-colleagues
Wray has some relationships from his years as a federal prosecutor that may lead some GOP senators to question his independence. When he began as a federal prosecutor in Atlanta, another assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Georgia was Sally Yates, the acting attorney general Trump fired earlier this year when she refused to enforce his travel ban. They worked together for several years and he even noted in answers on the Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire that one of his 10 “most significant legal matters” was a case he co-prosecuted with Yates against onetime Atlanta Braves pitcher and former DeKalb County Sheriff Pat Jarvis, who pleaded guilty to mail fraud in 1999.
Once in Washington, Wray was head of the criminal division at the U. S. Department of Justice when Comey was serving as the acting U.S. attorney general and Mueller was the FBI director. Wray offered to resign along with Comey and Mueller, if it came to that, in a dispute over the extension of a domestic surveillance program that was secretly launched after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Bush tenure, Georgia ties
As a top Justice Department official in the aftermath of 9/11, Wray was heavily involved in the George W. Bush administration’s prosecutions of terror cells operating in the United States. It’s possible senators, particularly Democrats, will question Wray about some of his individual decisions, including those related to the detention of Middle Eastern immigrants after the 2001 terrorist attacks and wiretapping. Wray also helped bring cases against individuals at energy giant Enron and HealthSouth Corp., and the Washington snipers.
Wray’s deep Georgia ties, which include his time in public practice and in the U.S Attorney’s Office in Atlanta, aren’t likely to get as much attention. In Atlanta, he prosecuted a drug trafficker who had hired a team of hit men to kill a grand jury witness, another man who had hired someone to kill a witness in a counterfeiting case and a drifter who set fire to five rural churches in Georgia and hundreds more in six other states.
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