Start today with our
politics lead
and then explosive and combative here
on Capitol
Hill with FBI Director Christopher Wray.
Today, House Republicans
unleashed a tsunami of accusations
and attacks
against the FBI
and its Trump
appointed director,
Christopher Wray, accusing
Wray of weaponizing the bureau
against conservatives,
lambasting the bureau's participation
in last year's search of Trump's
Florida home.
Every single American speech is censored.
Parents are called terrorists.
Catholics are called radicals.
And I haven't even talked
about
the spying
that took place
of a presidential campaign
or the rating of a former president's
home.
Wray also today
making a stunning announcement
about the unprecedented
number of threats
and attacks against the bureau
since the August search of Mar
a Lago,
revealing the threats
against federal law enforcement
have gotten so bad
since then,
he has now created a unit solely focused
on protecting FBI personnel.
Democrats in the House
use their time today
to question
Wray about Trump's involvement
in the January six attack
and his mishandling
of classified documents,
according to the prosecutor,
while also accusing
their Republican colleagues of holding
today's hearing as part of an effort to
protect Donald Trump.
House Republicans will attack the FBI
for having had the audacity
to treat Donald Trump
like any other citizen.
The strategy is simple, really.
When in doubt,
Chairman Jordan
investigates the investigators
the FBI dared to hold Trump accountable,
so Republicans must discredit
the FBI at all costs.
Director Wray also called accusations
from some that the FBI was involved
in the January six
insurrection, quote, ludicrous.
CNN's Sara
Murray is digging into this contentious
and confrontational hearing.
Thank you.
Good morning,
Chairman Jordan, Ranking Member Nadler,
members of the committee.
FBI Director Christopher Wray,
weighing in on
some of the most hot
button political investigations
in testimony on Capitol Hill
critiquing former
President Donald Trump's
sloppy retention of classified documents.
I don't want to be
commenting on the pending case,
but I will say that
there are specific rules about where
to store classified information
and that those need to be stored
in a skiff,
a secure, compartmentalized
information facility. And
in my experience,
ballrooms, bathrooms
and bedrooms are not skiffs
insisting in the wake of Hunter
Biden's plea
deal on tax charges
that the bureau
is not protecting the Biden family.
Are you protecting the Bidens?
Absolutely. Not the FBI.
Well, you know, interesting.
You won't answer a question
about whether or not that
and disavowing
some of the behavior outlined
in special counsel
John Durham's probe,
which documented missteps
by the FBI
in its investigation
into the 2016 Trump
campaign's ties with Russia.
I consider the conduct that was described
in the Durham report
as totally unacceptable
and unrepresentative of what I see
from the FBI every day
and must never be allowed
to happen again.
Wray however,
stood by the search at Trump's Mar
a Lago estate.
I would not call it a raid.
I would call it the execution
of a lawful search warrant
and defended the FBI's rank and file
amid a wave of threats
in the wake of that search.
We did stand up a whole dedicated unit to
focus on threats to FBI
individuals, FBI employees,
and FBI facilities
because of the uptick that we saw
over that time period.
Wray facing off
against some of his toughest
congressional critics
on the House Judiciary Committee,
where Republicans
have threatened to slash the bureau's
budget
and accused FBI leadership
of political bias.
People trusted the FBI more when J.
Edgar Hoover
was running the place
that when you are
respectfully congressman
in your home state of Florida.
The number of people
applying to come work for us
and devote their lives
working for us is over up over 100%.
We're deeply proud of them,
and they deserve better than you all.
As Democrats took shots
at their GOP colleagues.
We are here today
because MAGA Republicans
would do anything
to protect Donald Trump, their savior,
no matter how unfounded or dangerous it
may be to do so.
Now.
Wray also told the panel
that the notion
that he is biased against
conservatives was insane to him,
given his own personal background.
He's a registered Republican,
and he was again appointed to this job
by Republican President Donald Trump.
Jake
Sara Murray, thanks so much.
Let's talk about this
with a decorated former FBI agent
who served under
FBI Director
James Comey and Robert Mueller
and that CNN's Josh Campbell.
Josh, Director Wray
mentioned increased threats
against FBI personnel
in the wake of the Mar a Lago search.
But the FBI is not only concerned
about the agents
involved in that search,
are they know
in fact, Wray is concerned
about all 38,000 FBI employees
and whether they might actually
be targets.
And that's
why he mentioned the bureau's
standing up this unit
to guard against threats
against FBI employees.
We know, Jake,
that this is not just an
academic exercise,
that words actually matter, particularly
the former president, Donald Trump,
you know,
who is accused, the FBI,
of all kinds of wrongdoing
pertaining to that search at Mar a Lago.
We know that after those comments
and after Trump
accused them of malfeasance,
a Trump
supporter actually went
and attacked
an FBI field office in Cincinnati.
And so we see just
how real the issue is
for FBI employees, having them on guard
because of these words.
Now, you know, throughout this hearing,
we saw Wray trying to bat down
a number of conspiracy theories.
There was an exchange
I want you to hear
that happened
just a few moments ago
where this was a Republican member
essentially insisting
that the FBI was some kind of inside job
in the January 6th attack.
Now, the member's time had expired,
but Wray felt the need to jump in
and make sure his voice was known
and heard. Have a listen.
If you
are suggesting
that the violence that occurred
at the Capitol on January
six was part of
some operation orchestrated
by FBI sources or FBI agents,
the answer is no, it was not.
And to suggest
otherwise is a disservice
to our hardworking,
dedicated law enforcement profession.
And I realize
now there have been actual cases
of wrongdoing by FBI employees.
But, you know,
throughout this hearing,
we've seen a number of these conspiracy
theories are being put out there.
And as FBI and other
security experts say,
some of them have real consequences
if they
actually lead people
to act with violence.
All right, Josh Campbell, thanks so much.