FBI Director Christopher Wray to testify before House Judiciary Committee amid calls to resign
Fox News
FBI Director Christopher Wray will testify before the House Judiciary Committee next month, Fox News has confirmed. The hearing will put Wray face-to-face with several Republican lawmakers who have accused him of politically weaponizing the FBI against churches, parents, and political opponents of the Biden administration.
The hearing, scheduled for July 12, comes as House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, subpoenaed Wray for information from him and his agency concerning various investigations and as Republicans call for the FBI to investigate President Biden and the Biden family.
Wray also faces allegations of mishandling a probe into President Biden’s son after the FBI revealed Hunter Biden will plead guilty to two tax violations and one gun felony following a five-year investigation. Republican lawmakers blasted the “sweetheart” plea deal.
Details about what will be discussed at the July hearing were not immediately available.
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Wray has faced increased attention from Capitol Hill after Republicans recaptured the House majority in Nov. 2022.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., nearly held Wray in contempt of Congress for withholding a classified document that alleges Biden was involved in a bribery scheme. A vote was canceled after Wray agreed to show the full committee of nearly 50 lawmakers to review the document and some related files.
Fox News Digital reached out to the FBI for comment, but a response was not immediately received.
Some Senate Republicans have urged Wray to resign over how he has led the bureau and his alleged weaponization of the FBI.
“He should’ve resigned a long time ago,” Sen. Josh Hawley told Fox News.
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Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance agreed, telling Fox News, “Christopher Wray should absolutely resign. What has happened in the last four or five years is the American people have seen that the leadership of the FBI is engaged in political hackery.”
The Republican criticism of Wray has also dipped into the 2024 Republican presidential primary race, as several candidates have said they would fire Wray.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed last month to dismiss Wray, saying the FBI and the Justice Department have “lost their way” and allowed themselves to be “weaponized” against Americans.
“No, I would not keep Chris Wray as director of the FBI. There’ll be a new one on day one,” DeSantis told Fox News host Trey Gowdy during an appearance on “Fox News Tonight.”
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He added, “And I think the DOJ and FBI have lost their way. I think that they’ve been weaponized against Americans who think like me and you. And I think that they become very partisan.”
“As president, you have a responsibility to be involved in holding those agencies accountable, clearing out people who are not doing the job, and making sure that they’re doing the people’s business, and they’re not abusing their authority,” DeSantis also said.
Former Vice President Mike Pence also said he would fire the FBI director.
“The American people have lost confidence in the Department of Justice,” Pence told the New York Post. “And if I’m President of the United States, on day one, we’re going to clean house on the top floor of the Department of Justice and bring in a whole new group of people.”
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During a town hall hosted by “Hannity” in South Carolina on Tuesday, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C. called the Justice Department “weaponized” and vowed to “fire” President Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Wray if he is elected president.
“With your help,” Scott told Hannity, “we are going to fire Joe Biden, and then we are going to fire Merrick Garland and fire Christopher Wray.”
Scott continued, “And we are going to restore confidence, integrity in our Department of Justice. We can’t have them going after the pro-life activists with a SWAT team. You cannot call parents who show up at a school board meeting domestic terrorists. And you cannot, it is unacceptable and un-American to weaponize the Department of Justice against your political opponents. It is just wrong.”
Criticism of Wray and the FBI surged again after special counsel John Durham released a report concluding his four-year investigation into former President Trump, his 2016 campaign and alleged ties to Russia.
Durham concluded that authorities within the DOJ did not have sufficient evidence to initiate the investigation.
Fox News’ Jon Michael Raasch and Charles Creitz contributed to this report.