Christopher Wray: “I would not tolerate any inappropriate influence on Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation to the extent that I’m supporting it. At the end of the day, it is his investigation.”
Sen. Coons: “Now, more than ever, I believe it to be crucial that our next FBI Director be prepared to be steadfastly independent”
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today questioned President Trump’s nominee for FBI director, Christopher Wray.
“And, I know, this may not need repeating, but let us not forget why we are having this hearing. Your predecessor James Comey was not even at the halfway point of his 10-year term as FBI director when President Trump abruptly fired him without cause and without warning. And, President Trump said when he fired Director Comey that he was thinking about the FBI's investigation of Russian interference in our elections, an investigation that Director Comey was then overseeing,” said Senator Coons. “So, now, more than ever, I believe it to be crucial that our next FBI Director be prepared to be steadfastly independent, and, as we had a chance to discuss before this hearing, it falls on you today not only to clearly demonstrate to our committee that you possess the legal, investigative, and management skills required for the position for which you have been nominated, but that you have a fierce commitment to maintaining the integrity of the FBI as an independent agency and that you will conduct yourself as FBI director in a way that is above partisanship.”
“Attorney General Sessions, as we've discussed and as you all know, is recused from and I quote, 'any existing or future investigations of any matters related in any way to the campaign for president of the United States, including the investigation into Russian interference," said Senator Coons. “As I told you when we met before, I'm concerned that Attorney General Sessions hasn't complied with the scope of his recusal. Is it appropriate for the attorney general to make public comments on the ongoing investigation, to engage in decisions about its resourcing, funding, or staffing? Is that an appropriate part of his management role of the agency as attorney general?”
Full audio and video available here.
Senator Coons’ full remarks and Q&A, as delivered, are below:
Senator Coons: Thank you, Senator Sasse--future Chairman Sasse--for the opportunity to question the witness and, Mr. Wray, thank you for your prior service and your continued willingness to serve our country, particularly at this important and difficult time. And, I know, this may not need repeating, but let us not forget why we are having this hearing. Your predecessor James Comey was not even at the halfway point of his 10-year term as FBI director when President Trump abruptly fired him without cause and without warning. And, President Trump said when he fired Director Comey that he was thinking about the FBI's investigation of Russian interference in our elections, an investigation that Director Comey was then overseeing. So, now, more than ever, I believe it to be crucial that our next FBI Director be prepared to be steadfastly independent, and, as we had a chance to discuss before this hearing, it falls on you today not only to clearly demonstrate to our committee that you possess the legal, investigative, and management skills required for the position for which you have been nominated, but that you have a fierce commitment to maintaining the integrity of the FBI as an independent agency and that you will conduct yourself as FBI director in a way that is above partisanship. Let's move to it, if we might. First, how will you ensure that the FBI provides all the resources that Special Counsel Mueller needs to thoroughly conduct and complete the investigation he is currently in charge of?
Christopher Wray: Well, Senator, the first thing I would do if confirmed is to reach out to former Director Mueller and elicit his advice about what it is he needs and whether he thinks he's getting it from the FBI. And, knowing former Director Mueller, and knowing what a straight talker and plain talker he is, I have no doubt that, if he's not getting what he needs, he would let me know.
Senator Coons: I agree. Attorney General Sessions praised your selection as the FBI nominee. Did you interview with Attorney General Sessions?
Christopher Wray: I interviewed with Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein and Attorney General Sessions together, at the same time.
Senator Coons: Did either of them ask you about the conduct of the Russia investigation during your interview?
Christopher Wray: No.
Senator Coons: Attorney General Sessions, as we've discussed and as you all know, is recused from and I quote, 'any existing or future investigations of any matters related in any way to the campaign for president of the United States, including the investigation into Russian interference.' As I told you when we met before, I'm concerned that Attorney General Sessions hasn't complied with the scope of his recusal. Is it appropriate for the attorney general to make public comments on the ongoing investigation, to engage in decisions about its resourcing, funding, or staffing? Is that an appropriate part of his management role of the agency as attorney general?
Christopher Wray: Senator, I'm not sure it's for me to speak to the attorney general's decision-making about his own public comments. I would say that if he is recused from an investigation, to me he means that he shouldn't be participating in decision-making about the investigation. But, of course, the attorney general is the head of the entire Justice Department. And, as important this particular investigation is, and it is extremely important in my view, there are many, many other things that the FBI and the Department are responsible for, and I think that is the appropriate role for the attorney general as its leader.
Senator Coons: So, I'll agree with you that, in my view, it is not appropriate for the attorney general to participate in investigations related to the Trump campaign, and as the person in charge of the operations of the Department of Justice, he is involved in making the highest level management decisions. But, it's exactly those decisions about the access to resources, the scope, the trajectory of Bob Mueller's investigation that I wanted to make sure I go to. Will you commit to studying the scope of Attorney General Sessions' recusal and, ensuring appropriate procedures are in place, to honoring it at the FBI and to reporting any violations of that recusal to this Congress?
Christopher Wray: Well, Senator, I'm not sure the authority over his recusal scope. What I would commit to is that I will take a close look surely upon being confirmed, if confirmed, to, as I said, making sure that former Director Mueller, now Special Counsel Mueller, has all the appropriate resources that he ought to have. And, my expectation is that I would remain committed to that support regardless of any decisions by anybody else in the department.
Senator Coons: So, if a directive came down from the attorney general about prioritization of resources that you thought inappropriately interfered--or interfered in any way--with the resources requested by Special Counsel Mueller, you'd act to prevent that from hindering the investigation?
Christopher Wray: I would not tolerate any inappropriate influence on Special Counsel Mueller's investigation to the extent that I'm supporting it. At the end of the day, it is his investigation.
Senator Coons: We had another conversation last week--it's been raised by other colleagues--about a episode during your time at the Department of Justice when you were prepared to resign. And this was over an ongoing but unauthorized by Congress surveillance program, and you testified previously, you had been readied into all the details of it, and it seemed in some ways, you were going on a gut hunch, you were following people who you knew were thoroughly ready, and you'd practiced closely with and who you admired. I'm just characterizing roughly what I heard before. But, now, in hindsight, you've had time to better understand what was going on, what was the contest, and what were the issues. In hindsight, were you right to be willing to throw your career aside and to be willing to join these folks in resigned had they had to, and would you do that again?
Christopher Wray: As to the first part of your question, senator, I have not for any minute ever regretted my willingness to resign as I explained it to Deputy Attorney General Comey at that time. My decision was not based solely on gut, my decision was based on knowledge, very close working knowledge with the range of people who were read in and knowing that they were not, as I said to Senator Whitehouse, not shrinking violets, very tough on terror, very thoughtful, intellectually honest people, and people who by the way didn't all agree with each other all the time. So, when I put all of that together, my familiarity with those people, how they think, how they come out on war on terror issues, and knowing that they felt strongly enough that they were willing to resign over much greater knowledge of the program than I had at that time, I was confident then that resigning with them if necessary was the right decision, and now later, having learned many more of the facts that weren't available to me then, I'm even more confident that it would have been the right decision.
Senator Coons: Thank you for that. Former Attorney General Bell, I think you quoted before, as saying that you should be willing to resign if necessary over conduct if you're pressed to engage in it that's either unethical, illegal, or unconstitutional. Could you just explore for me for a few more minutes, what were the values that you brought to that decision and what values, among those three, or others would you bring to having to make a similar decision in the future if you get pressed to do something that meets one of those three tests suggested by former Attorney General Bell?
Christopher Wray: Well, the values I brought to that particular decision were the knowledge that the appropriate parts of the Justice Department and the FBI were doing their job, doing their duty to evaluate the legality of the program in question. And I thought that, knowing the confidence that I had in them, in their commitment to duty, in their ability to do their job, that that needed to be respected, and respected even to the point of me having to resign to support them in it. Not sure if I got all of your questions, so I might need you to refresh me.
Senator Coons: That's more than satisfactory, thank you. Acting Attorney General Sally Yates was fired after she refused to defend the travel ban based on her concerns the order wasn't lawful or consistent with the facts. If you're fired or resign for refusing to carry out a presidential order, will you commit to come to Congress to testify about that decision and what drove you to make that decision?
Christopher Wray: Well, certainly, if I legally and appropriately can, I mean I need to know to circumstances of any particular situation, but I would want to comply with the law and the rules first and foremost. But, if I can, I would comply with any lawful request from Congress.
Senator Coons: Let me, if I may, in my last minute, return to a question that was raised earlier. I just want to make sure we've gotten this clearly, Senator Graham asked you about an email to Donald Trump Jr. offering the Trump campaign very high level and sensitive information, and this is a quote from the email, as part of Russia and its government support for Mr. Trump, chief ethics lawyers from former President George W Bush and President Obama and this is a joint quote, 'we've worked on political campaigns for decades and have never heard of an offer like this one. If we had, we would have insisted upon immediate notification of the FBI, and so would any normal campaign lawyer official or even senior volunteer. Russian interference in our election happened and may very well happen again. If a campaign staffer or a senator or someone working around them gets an offer of foreign government assistance to defeat its opponent, do you agree the right thing to do is to promptly notify the FBI?
Christopher Wray: Senator, I would hope that anyone who is aware of an effort or an attempt to interfere with our elections would report that to the appropriate authorities. Whether it is someone on a campaign or somebody anywhere else, I think especially in the context of cyber-type intrusions, the FBI and others in the intelligence community depend on people who are receiving the contact from reaching out and coordinating with law enforcement intelligence community and that's a big, important part of the messaging on that effort, so I would think anyone in that situation, I would hope would want to bring that to the attention of the appropriate authorities assuming that they think that something untoward or inappropriate has occurred.
Senator Coons: Can you reach any other conclusion from that email other than something untoward or inappropriate is being proffered?
Christopher Wray: I haven't read the email, I haven't even had a chance to read any of the newspaper covers, it's all happened during a time when I've spent all day going from one Senate building to another, meeting with all of your colleagues, so, I'm sorry, but I just don't know the details of the email.
Senator Coons:: I think Senator Graham already asked for you get readied on it and respond to us in the future.
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