FBI Director Chris Wray has become known for allowing politics to steer law enforcement, leaving public confidence in American institutions at an all-time low. Americans expect the DOJ and the FBI to enforce the law, not target political opposition, by searching for a way to turn a misdemeanor into a felony or an innocent action into a witch hunt. But that is what has happened, which begs the question of why President Trump ever chose Chris Wray as the FBI director.
In a recent Hannity interview, Trump was asked what led to his decision to give the FBI Director role to Chris Wray.
He responded by saying that Wray was recommended by former Republican NJ Governor Chris Christie. Christie ran against President Trump in the primaries but then became an ardent supporter following Trump’s election win. Trump told Hannity he chose Wray because everybody wanted him,
“I wanted to have somebody in there that everybody, including the other side really wanted; it may not have been the right move, let’s see, time will tell, okay?…I may have made a mistake, but I put somebody in that the other side, everybody agreed too, you know who recommended him to me? Chris Christie. And that’s okay; I don’t mind that I’ve taken Chris Christie’s recommendations before, and other people wanted Christopher Wray. And people from the other side wanted Chris Wray.”

 

Trump’s advantage in being a Washington outsider was having the American people’s trust, which he proved was well placed as he fulfilled promise after promise. Unfortunately, that same advantage was a disadvantage when choosing people for jobs inside his new administration, as many would-be allies needed to have America’s best interest or President Trump’s at heart. And many did not. 

Twitter users responded to the admission of how Wray received his job following Trump’s Hannity interview, by pointing the finger at Chris Christie saying he sold Trump out.

According to Victoria Toensing at the American Thinker, Wray had an alleged history of refusing to rein in a U.S. Attorney or even looking into misconduct allegations. Attorney Toensing recalls reporting misconduct to Wray after an attorney under his authority threatened witnesses to get them to testify not according to the truth but as he directed. Toensing alleges that Wray never looked into the unethical prosecutorial overreach happening under his jurisdiction.

Trump was likely unaware of Wray’s past history or his connection with Christie. Christie found himself in hot water after a debacle known as “Bridgegate” occurred during Christie’s time as governor. On September 9, 2013, two of the three toll lanes on George Washington Bridge were closed during rush hour. A huge traffic jam developed where even emergency vehicles were stuck and unable to get through to help victims. The political outrage was immense. Wray was hired as Christie’s attorney to represent him following the incident.

Some blamed partisan politics for the lane closure, saying that it was closed to punish a local Democrat Mayor who had not supported Christie during his run for governor.

Initially following the fiasco, three of Christie’s aides were indicted on charges of fraud. Their sentences were ultimately overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. However, during their sworn testimony, the aides testified that they had discussed the lane closure issues with Christie, yet he was not indicted. In addition, his cell phone, which would have provided evidence of his role in Bridgegate, conveniently went missing. Christie ultimately admitted that Wray had his phone, but strangely federal prosecutors never worked to secure it from Wray. Wray had directed all the U.S. Attorney offices during his career in the DOJ as Assistant Attorney General and knew the federal prosecutors.

Christie recalls his gratitude to attorney Chris Wray for helping him navigate Bridgegate, saying,

“When I was at the absolute lowest point of my professional life, he’s who I called.”

Recommending Chris Wray to be the FBI Director is a natural way to repay a favor.

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