Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley on Wednesday urged FBI director nominee Christopher Wray to bring “independence” and “accountability” back to the agency.
“At the FBI oversight hearing on May 3, I said that a cloud of doubt hangs over the FBI’s objectivity,” the Iowa Republican said in his prepared opening remarks during Wray’s confirmation hearing. “The director of the FBI is entrusted with a tremendous amount of power. That power is subject to appropriate checks against the abuse of our civil liberties.”
Grassley added that this power is why the FBI director has a term limit, and why he or she can also be fired at any time by the president, something that happened to the former director James Comey in May. Both Republicans and Democrats were unhappy with how Comey inserted himself into politics and strayed from past precedent of staying silent about ongoing or pending investigations.
“The term limit is a ceiling, not a floor. And while independence from partisan influence is critical — and this committee intends to closely examine the circumstances of Mr. Comey’s firing – history shows that the 10-year term limit isn’t there to protect the FBI director from politicians or politics. It’s there to help prevent the FBI director from overreaching or abusing power,” Grassley added.
Grassley noted that previously “the FBI has resisted accountability to Congress and has been unresponsive to my letters.”
“Mr. Wray, you and I have spoken about this problem and I expect you to change this practice at the FBI. I would like an assurance from you that you will be responsive to my oversight work and that my questions and document requests will be taken seriously and answered in a timely and complete manner,” he urged.
Wray, a career Justice Department official, was nominated to succeed Comey by President Trump in June.
