During a House Judiciary Committee hearing, House Republicans directed a barrage of criticism at FBI Director Christopher Wray, presenting a long list of complaints. Chairman Jim Jordan led the attacks, covering various topics such as allegations of the FBI suppressing the Hunter Biden laptop story, claims of whistleblower retaliation, the FBI’s handling of threats on school boards, and a withdrawn memo on extremism in the Catholic Church from the bureau’s Richmond field office.
Republicans accused Wray of eroding public trust in the law enforcement agency, focusing on his handling of investigations involving former President Donald Trump and Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden. Representative Matt Gaetz from Florida questioned Wray about allegations from an IRS whistleblower related to the Hunter Biden investigation, asking if he was protecting the Bidens. Wray firmly denied this, stating that the FBI does not have any political agenda or interest in protecting anyone.
A heated exchange ensued between Gaetz and Wray when the Florida Republican claimed that the FBI had the lowest level of trust in its history. Gaetz argued that people trusted the FBI more when J. Edgar Hoover was in charge, attributing the lack of trust to Wray’s failure to provide straightforward answers. Wray responded by pointing out that in Gaetz’s home state of Florida, there has been a significant increase in the number of people applying to work for the FBI.
Wray defended the FBI against the GOP attacks, acknowledging past mistakes such as abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) process. He argued that the bureau has taken appropriate steps to address those problems and urged committee members to recognize the broader impact of the FBI’s work beyond the headline-grabbing investigations.
Republicans accused the FBI, and Wray personally, of bias against conservatives. Wray, a Republican appointed by Trump, found the idea of being biased against conservatives insane given his own personal background. Chairman Jordan, who has made the FBI a focal point of his panel’s investigations, aimed to prove that the agency has been weaponized against conservatives, making Wray a top target. House Republicans defended Trump and accused the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI of implementing a two-tiered system of justice. Democrats argued that the hearing was purely political and an attempt by Republicans to protect Trump.
Wray highlighted the FBI’s successes, including the arrest of violent criminals and child predators, investigations targeting drug cartels involved in trafficking fentanyl, and ongoing efforts to counter Chinese government espionage. The clashes between Republicans and Wray occurred as the expiration of FISA 702 authorities loomed. Several Republicans and at least one Democrat stated they would not reauthorize the surveillance tools without significant reforms.
Republicans raised multiple grievances during the hearing, extending back to the FBI’s investigation into Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia in the 2016 election. They referred to the findings of John Durham, the special counsel who probed the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation. Wray labeled Durham’s findings, primarily that the FBI should have launched only a preliminary investigation into connections between Trump’s campaign and Russia, as totally unacceptable.
Other criticisms directed at Wray included allegations that the FBI targeted Catholic Americans and participated in censoring free speech. The committee released a report alleging the FBI’s flawed efforts to combat Russian disinformation, which inadvertently affected authentic American accounts. Republicans also lambasted Wray over a recent court ruling ordering federal agencies and Biden administration officials not to collude with social media companies to suppress protected free speech.
Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky questioned Wray about the pipe bomb found at the Democratic National Committee during the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Massie expressed frustration over the FBI’s inability to share more information or identify a suspect in the matter, despite it being 900 days since the incident.
During the hearing, Wray disclosed that the FBI had established a new unit to address threats against personnel following the search at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. After the search and Trump’s indictment, the FBI reported an unprecedented number of threats against agents and FBI property. Democrats defended the FBI’s actions during the search and provided details on the steps taken to retrieve classified documents before the search in August 2022. Wray emphasized that the search was conducted according to standard procedure, denying claims of a raid on the former president’s home. He noted that there was no SWAT involvement and that agents wore plain clothes and waited until Trump had left the property to avoid undue attention.
In response to questions about classified information found at Mar-a-Lago, Wray avoided commenting on the pending case but highlighted that there are specific rules regarding the storage of classified information. He stated that ballrooms, bathrooms, and bedrooms are not secure, compartmentalized information facilities (SCIFs) where classified information should be stored.
