US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the FBI on Wednesday broke with the president in key areas, rejecting the idea that an investigation into possible coordination between Russia and the Trump election campaign is a “witch hunt” and promising not to cave to any pressure from a White House that has challenged boundaries with the nation’s top law enforcement agency.
Former high-ranking US Department of Justice official Christopher Wray, who Trump nominated last month, told senators at his confirmation hearing that he would never let politics get in the way of the bureau’s mission, adding that he “sure as heck” would not offer a pledge of loyalty to the president.
Asserting his independence, he said: “My loyalty is to the constitution and the rule of law. Those have been my guideposts throughout my career, and I will continue to adhere to them no matter the test.”
Wray’s responses seemed to satisfy both Democrats and Republicans on the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary, many of whom signaled their support for him.
Wray, 50, would inherit the FBI at a particularly challenging time given Trump’s abrupt dismissal of former FBI director James Comey, who was admired within the bureau.
The hearing was largely devoid of fireworks in keeping with what friends and supporters have described as Wray’s low-key, disciplined style.
His reserved approach could bode well for the agency at a time when its work has been thrust into the center of a political maelstrom.
However, Wray said: “Anybody who thinks that I would be pulling punches as FBI director sure doesn’t know me very well.”
After Trump dismissed Comey on May 9, the former FBI director said that the president had asked him to pledge his loyalty during a dinner at the White House.
He also said Trump had encouraged him to end an investigation into former US national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Wray said he got no demand for personal loyalty, nor would he pledge it.
The back-and-forth with lawmakers focused extensively on the Russia investigation, with Wray repeatedly voicing his respect for former FBI director Robert Mueller, who was in May selected as the special counsel to oversee the probe.
Trump has repeatedly derided that investigation and other probes, using such words as “hoax” and “witch hunt.”
However, Wray said that he would reject any efforts to interfere with Mueller’s work.
He also said he had no reason to doubt the assessment of intelligence agencies that Russia had interfered in the US election through hacking, a conclusion of which Trump has been dismissive.
Asked about e-mails released a day earlier showing that Donald Trump Jr was willing to take help from Russia during the campaign, he said any foreign efforts to meddle in an election should be reported to the FBI rather than accepted.
Wray, who most recently enjoyed a lucrative legal career at an international law firm, also faced questions about his work as a department official in the administration of former US president George W. Bush.
He served the government at a time when harsh interrogation techniques were approved within the department for terror suspects captured overseas, although Wray said he was never involved in signing off on those methods.
Although Trump as a candidate professed support for waterboarding, Wray said he considered torture to be wrong and ineffective.
“The FBI is going to play no part in the use of any techniques of that sort,” he said.
He also was questioned about his relationships with Comey and Mueller.
Trump allies have said Mueller’s closeness to Comey shows he cannot lead an unbiased probe, but Trump nominated Wray despite his having worked with both men.
Wray at times sought to distance himself from Comey, who was widely criticized for publicly announcing that former US secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton should not face criminal charges for her use of a private e-mail server.
Pressed on how he would have handled the situation, he said he could not imagine holding a news conference about someone who had not been charged, citing department policies against doing so.
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