UNITED STATES NEWS

FBI Director Chris Wray defends the ‘real FBI’ against criticism from House Republicans

Jul 11, 2023, 9:07 PM | Updated: Jul 12, 2023, 10:20 am

WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Chris Wray defended the “real FBI” during a contentious congressional hearing Wednesday, dismissing a litany of grievances from Republicans who are harshly critical of the bureau, threatening to defund some operations and claiming the Justice Department is unfair to political conservatives.

Wray refused to engage in specific questions about ongoing federal investigations, Hunter Biden. The son of President Joe Biden recently reached an agreement to plead guilty to misdemeanor federal tax charges; Republicans have derided that as a sweetheart deal.

In testy exchanges with Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee, Wray rejected the GOP assertion that the bureau was favoring the Biden family and said the notion that the bureau was involved the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol was “ludicrous.”

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

The director spelled out the bureau’s crime-fighting work breaking up drug cartels, taking some 60 suspected criminals off the streets each day and protecting Americans from “a staggering array of threats.”

He said, “That is the real FBI.”

It’s the latest display of the new normal on Capitol Hill, where Republicans who have long billed themselves as the champions of police and “law and order” are deeply at odds with federal law enforcement and the FBI, accusing the bureau of bias dating to investigations of Trump when he was president.

This new dynamic has forced Democrats into a position of defending these law enforcement agencies they have long criticized.

The committee chairman, Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, said he is trying to stop what Republicans call the “weaponization” of the federal justice system, which they say is tilted against conservatives, including Trump and his allies.

Jordan opened the hearing reciting a federal judge’s recent ruling against the government’s efforts to halt misinformation on social media before listing other grievances against the FBI over its treatment of conservatives.

But the top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, said the hearing was “little more than performance art” by the Republicans who are undertaking what he called baseless investigations too far-fetched to be true.

During one tense exchange with Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., Wray noted that in Florida, the number of FBI applicants is up by more than 100 percent.

“We’re deeply proud of them, and they deserve better than you,” Gaetz said.

Wray became animated at one point by the suggestion from Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., that the FBI would have been involved in suppressing a theory that the coronavirus pandemic originated via a leak from a laboratory in China rather than a transfer from animals to humans.

“The idea that the FBI would somehow be involved in suppressing references to a lab leak theory is somewhat absurd when you consider the fact that the FBI was the only — the only — agency in the entire intelligence community to reach the assessment that it was more likely than not that was the explanation of the pandemic,” Wray said, pointing with his index finger for emphasis.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., said she thought it was “actually sad that the majority is engaging conspiracy theories in an effort to discredit one of the premier law enforcement agencies in the United States.”

Jordan has been laying the groundwork for Wray’s appearance since House Republicans took the majority in January.

Republicans have held hearings with former Twitter executives and federal officials to make the case that the FBI has been corruptly using its powers against Trump and the right. The GOP has formed a special committee on “weaponization” of government, also led by Jordan, to investigate abuse.

Along with GOP leaders of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee, the panels opened a joint investigation into the Hunter Biden case, citing testimony from two IRS whistleblowers who say the Justice Department meddled with their work.

The department has denied the allegations and said that U.S. Attorney David Weiss in Delaware, the federal prosecutor who led the investigation, always had full authority over the case. Weiss was appointed during the Trump administration.

Republicans have requested interviews with Weiss and other Justice Department officials, but those are not likely until after the case is closed, in line with department policy.

Hanging over the proceedings were GOP threats to impeach Attorney General Merrick Garland and withhold money for federal law enforcement as Congress in the midst of preparing annual spending bills.

At one point, Rep. Thomas Massie showed a short surveillance video moments before officials found a pipe bomb outside the Democratic National Committee’s Capitol Hill headquarters on the day of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. Massie, R-Ky., demanded answers about the investigation.

“We fund your department so you need to provide that,” Massie said.

Another focus of the hearing was the push to reauthorize a program under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, that grants agencies such as the FBI broad powers to surveil and examine communications of foreigners outside the United States.

A provision known as Section 702 is set to expire at year’s end unless Congress agrees to renew it. Members of both parties are frustrated with the program, citing allegations of federal officials abusing the system.

Wray, meanwhile, discussed a difference of opinion over Garland’s 2021 memo instructing the FBI to coordinate with local law enforcement over threats against school boards. Republicans have complained that went too far in trying to police parents.

“I will say to you the same thing that I said to all 56 of our field offices as soon as I read the memo, which is that the FBI is not in the business of investigating or policing speech at school board meetings or anywhere else for that matter,” said Wray, who has led the FBI since Trump nominated him after firing James Comey in 2017.

The Justice Department has accused Trump of illegally storing government secrets at his Florida estate and then refusing to give them back after he left office. Trump has pleaded probing efforts by Trump and his allies to undo Biden’s election in the run-up to Jan. 6, 2021.

Some of the GOP’s most conservative members are pushing to cut off some funding for the FBI, and Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has questioned a plan to move the FBI headquarters from downtown Washington to a suburb in Virginia or Maryland. He has said Congress should focus on FBI offices in the states.

United States News

Associated Press

Norman Lear, producer of TV’s ‘All in the Family’ and influential liberal advocate, has died at 101

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Norman Lear, the writer, director and producer who revolutionized prime time television with “All in the Family,” “The Jeffersons” and “Maude,” propelling political and social turmoil into the once-insulated world of TV sitcoms, has died. He was 101. Lear died Tuesday night in his sleep, surrounded by family at his home […]

48 minutes ago

Associated Press

White House delays menthol cigarette ban, alarming anti-smoking advocates

WASHINGTON (AP) — White House officials will take more time to review a sweeping plan from U.S. health regulators to ban menthol cigarettes, an unexpected delay that anti-tobacco groups fear could scuttle the long-awaited rule. Administration officials indicated Wednesday the process will continue into next year, targeting March to implement the rule, according to an […]

1 hour ago

Associated Press

New GOP-favored Georgia congressional map nears passage as the end looms for redistricting session

ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia special session to redraw congressional and legislative voting district maps is likely to end Thursday after a House committee on Wednesday advanced a Republican-favored congressional map that targets Democratic U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath’s current district. However, the wrangling is unlikely to end there, with those who brought the challenges that […]

2 hours ago

President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the White House Tribal Nations Summit at the Department of ...

Associated Press

Biden’s campaign will not commit yet to participating in general election debates in 2024

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — President Joe Biden’s campaign is not yet committing to general election debates next year, the latest sign that a staple of modern White House campaigns may not be in play in 2024. Quentin Fulks, Biden’s top deputy campaign manager, told reporters Wednesday that the president’s reelection campaign would “look at the […]

2 hours ago

Associated Press

Nevada grand jury indicts 6 fake Donald Trump electors

RENO, Nev. (AP) — A Nevada grand jury indicted six Republicans who submitted certificates to Congress falsely declaring Donald Trump the winner of the 2020 presidential election in their state, making Nevada the third to seek charges against so-called “fake electors.” Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford began investigating the fake electors last month. He said […]

2 hours ago

Associated Press

Juanita Castro, anti-communist sister of Cuban leaders Fidel and Raul, dies in Miami at 90

MIAMI (AP) — Juanita Castro, the sister of Cuban rulers Fidel and Raúl Castro who worked with the CIA against their communist government, has died in Miami at 90. Florida had been her home since shortly after fleeing the island nearly 60 years ago. Journalist María Antonieta Collins, who co-wrote Juanita Castro’s 2009 book, “Fidel […]

2 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

...

Desert Institute for Spine Care

Desert Institute for Spine Care (DISC) wants to help Valley residents address back, neck issues through awake spine surgery

As the weather begins to change, those with back issues can no longer rely on the dry heat to aid their backs. That's where DISC comes in.

...

Midwestern University

Midwestern University: innovating Arizona health care education

Midwestern University’s Glendale Campus near Loop 101 and 59th Avenue is an established leader in health care education and one of Arizona’s largest and most valuable health care resources.

...

SCHWARTZ LASER EYE CENTER

Key dates for Arizona sports fans to look forward to this fall

Fall brings new beginnings in different ways for Arizona’s professional sports teams like the Cardinals and Coyotes.

FBI Director Chris Wray defends the ‘real FBI’ against criticism from House Republicans