More than ever, the independence of the next FBI director will be paramount. No doubt Trump’s pick for the position, Christopher Wray, will appropriately face an increased level of scrutiny when his nomination comes before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Going into that polarized confirmation fight, the former assistant U.S. attorney general has two things going for him. First, he spurned President George W. Bush. Second, he supported then-Deputy Attorney General James Comey.
Rewind the clock to 2004 when the White House tried riding roughshod over the Department of Justice concerning an NSA domestic intelligence program called Solar Wind. When the DOJ balked at that constitutionality of that program, Bush literally dispatched his legal counsel and chief of staff to the hospital bed of U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Though semi-conscious because of his hospitalization, Ashcroft was pressured by the Bush administration to reverse his position on the program. The Republican president was only rebuffed when Comey threatened to lead a mass resignation, an exodus from the DOJ that would’ve included Wray.
The two men huddled briefly, the Washington Post reported at the time, outside Ashcroft’s room. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on,” Wray told Comey in the hallway of George Washington University Hospital. “But before you guys all pull the rip cords, please give me a heads-up so I can jump with you.”
Some will scoff that the episode is just a story. But narrative shouldn’t be underestimated ahead of the coming confirmation fight. Democrats are in a tight spot because the Senate voted unanimously for Wray previously. And after the left cast Comey as the last Boy Scout in Washington, they’ll have a difficult time disparaging Wray’s character.
Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
