Christopher Wray was appointed director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) by Donald Trump in 2017. Once he took office, he claimed his independence and since then he has become an obsession for the Republican Party, which accuses him without evidence. and the attorney general, Merrick Garland, of applying double standards in the administration of justice, especially for his investigations into Trump. This Wednesday, Wray has appeared before the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives for the first time since the Republicans have a majority. They have lashed out at him with all sorts of accusations of partisanship and conspiracy theories. The Democratic spokesman, Jerry Nadler, has summarized: “The FBI has dared to hold Trump accountable for his actions, so the Republicans have to discredit the FBI at any cost.”
The call for the session this Wednesday made its purpose clear: to examine “the politicization of the country’s main police agency under the direction of FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland.” From the beginning, when formally reciting the pledge to the flag, Republican congressmen have raised their voices in the last sentence, which speaks of “liberty and justice for all.”
The great paradox is that the Republicans have always presented themselves as the party of law and order and now they act almost as an anti-establishment formation. That has turned the tables and the Democratic Party, often critical of the security forces, is the one that comes to their defense. The other paradox is that, despite the eloquent photographs of the documents discovered in Mar-a-Lago, the mansion of the former president in Florida, whom the Republicans question is the FBI for the search and not Trump for his illegal conduct, for which is accused of 37 crimes. “The strategy is simple, really. When in doubt, investigate the investigators,” Nadler has said of the Republicans.
The appearance came just weeks after the president’s youngest son, Hunter Biden, reached an agreement with the Justice Department to plead guilty to minor tax offenses. Jordan and other Republican lawmakers call it “favorite treatment,” the latest example of a “double-standard judicial system” and the use of justice as a political weapon against Republicans and in favor of Democrats.
The session has been as rough as could be expected. Congressional Republicans constantly interrupted Wray, barely letting him explain. One of the most aggressive has been Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, who began by reading a message from Hunter Biden, son of President Biden. The message is inconclusive, but Republicans see it as alleged evidence of Biden’s corruption when he was vice president under Barack Obama and, according to Biden’s theories, he is being allowed to get away with it for political reasons. “Are you protecting the Bidens?” He snapped at him in a very harsh tone. “Absolutely not, the FBI has no interest…”. And Gaetz cut him over and over again, personally disqualifying Wray almost yelling.
At times, Republicans seemed to try to support the unsubstantiated theory that the Capitol storming was some kind of set-up, suggesting that undercover FBI agents were responsible, which Wray has called “ridiculous.” Congresswoman Zue Lofgren has come to the fore: “It is sad that most [republicana] is engaging in conspiracy theories and efforts to try to discredit one of America’s leading law enforcement agencies.”
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Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the committee chairman, had been paving the way for Wray’s appearance since the House was elected with a Republican majority in January. Hearings have been held with former FBI agents, Twitter executives and federal officials to defend the claim that the FBI has been corruptly using its powers against Trump and conservatives.
“For Republicans, this hearing is little more than stage art. It is an elaborate spectacle designed with only two purposes in mind: to protect Donald Trump from the consequences of his actions and to return him to the White House in the next election, ”said Democrat Nadler.
In his initial speech, Wray had said that he wanted to “talk about the enormous breadth and impact of the work that the 38,000 FBI employees are doing, each and every day.” “The work that the men and women of the FBI do to protect the American people goes far beyond the one or two investigations that seem to grab all the headlines,” he stressed, explaining his work against violent crime and fentanyl trafficking, among others. “That’s the real FBI,” she has said. She hasn’t had any luck: the questions have been about the headline cases.
There has been a Republican congressman who has suggested the idea of defunding the FBI, to which its director has responded bluntly: “It would hurt the American people, neighborhoods and communities across the country, the people we are protecting from cartels , violent criminals, gang members, predators, foreign and domestic terrorists, cyber-attacks… It would help those same violent gangs and cartels, foreign terrorists, Chinese spies, hackers, etc.”
Wray has stoically endured the third degree to which the Republicans have subjected him, counter-arguing with agility when they have left him. There has only been one moment when the tension has given way to laughter. “Were you a partner in an international law firm before you took a drastic pay cut to run the FBI?” Democratic Congressman Hank Johnson asked him. “Yes, it’s something that my wife reminds me from time to time,” the FBI director replied.
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2023-07-12 17:36:22
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