South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham drilled Trump’s nominee for FBI director Wednesday on whether the president’s son should have contacted the FBI after Russian sources offered him dirt on Hillary Clinton.
Nominee Christopher Wray said he was not familiar with the Trump Jr. emails and hesitated to talk about them. But after some pressing from Graham, Wray told lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee that the FBI should be informed of any foreign attempts at election interference.
Graham also questioned Wray on former FBI director James Comey’s handling of the Clinton email investigation.
Wray said he would not hold a press conference for an “uncharged individual.”
“I can’t imagine a situation where as FBI director I would be giving a press conference on an uncharged individual, much less talk to the Hill about it,” he said.
Comey held a July press conference where he said he would not recommend that the Justice Department bring charges against Clinton.
Graham spoke with THE WEEKLY STANDARD after he finished questioning Wray and explained his line of questioning.
“He hasn’t read the email so in defense of him—it was pretty clear to anybody that read it that this was an offer you should say no to. So I turned it into a hypothetical, and then he felt more comfortable answering. … I wanted him to say, and he eventually did, that if any of us get a call from anybody suggesting that a foreign government wants to help you, in any fashion, opposition research on your opponent, you don’t take the meeting—and he finally got there. He’s a great choice.”
Graham continued: “I wanted the FBI director to tell the country that Mueller is a good guy, this is not a witch hunt, and sitting down with a foreign government to get their assistance in a campaign is a non-starter.”
