Watch Trump’s FBI Pick Knock Comey’s Hillary Press Conference

Trump’s pick, Christopher Wray, will step into a precarious job if confirmed to succeed James Comey, who was sacked by the president in May after increasing frustration over a federal probe into Russia’s election-meddling and possible links to Trump associates. Wray would succeed James Comey, whom Trump fired in May.

Wray told senators: “I believe to my core that there is only one right way to do this job, and that is with strict independence, by the book, playing it straight, faithful to the Constitution, faithful to our laws, and faithful to the best practices of the institution”.

Senator Patrick Leahy asked Wray what he would do if the president asked him to do something unlawful.

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What about the F.B.I.’s Russian Federation investigation? Dianne Feinstein, the committee’s ranking member, and then with a statement from former Georgia Sen. “I can’t imagine a situation where as Federal Bureau of Investigation director I would be giving a press conference on an uncharged individual, much less talk in detail about it”, Wray testified.

Christopher Wray, now a private practice lawyer, worked under George W Bush’s administration as assistant attorney general in the United States department of justice’s criminal division between 2003 and 2005.

According to a Saturday report by USA Today, Wray’s law firm continues to represent Rosneft and Gazprom, two of Russia’s largest state-controlled oil companies. But it’s still the topic of the moment on Capitol Hill, for Republicans and Democrats, and timing is key.

Mr. Wray’s views on the F.B.I.’s use of surveillance tools and encryption could be examined, too.

When Wray offered to resign in solidarity with Comey, he did not even know the nature of the dispute, said Richter, which later was revealed to be over a White House demand Comey further authorize a warrantless surveillance program. A mussed mop of hair and rumpled clothing often betrayed the strain of a demanding schedule.

Does Trump have the authority to fire Director Mueller? “Chris is used to working in demanding circumstances and keeping his head in hard times”. When pressed, he said he was “not aware of any referral from the Department of Defense” to the Justice Department or the Federal Bureau of Investigation relating to detainee abuse. “Regardless of the political or legal storm, he will not be compromised”. Comey’s former Deputy, Andrew McCabe, has been filling in as acting director.

Then Comey testified that he’d developed a bad relationship with the president after Trump asked him to ease up on investigating former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn’s ties to Russia-a possible case of obstruction of justice. Dianne Feinstein about special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russian Federation investigation.

He said he would again be prepared to step down if the president asked him to do something he thought was illegal.

Trump thinks Comey was a “nut job;” Wray doesn’t: “In all my dealing with Jim Comey, he was a terrific lawyer, a dedicated public servant and a wonderful colleague”. “He never expects more of anybody else than he expects of himself”.

Wray isn’t without controversy of his own.

“And in fact when I chose to just do it I said to myself, I said, ‘You know, this Russian Federation thing with Trump and Russian Federation is a made-up story, it’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should’ve won, ‘” Trump told Holt.