Christopher Wray: What they are saying about his confirmation hearing

Christopher Wray, the man President Donald Trump chose to lead the FBI, told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that he would be led by "the facts, the law and the impartial pursuit of justice," should he be confirmed for the position, dismissing questions about his loyalty to the man who nominated him for the job.

"My loyalty is to the Constitution and the rule of law,” Wray assured the panel questioning him.

Wray also told senators that he does not believe the special counsel’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election is a “witch hunt,” contradicting a tweet the president posted Wednesday morning.

Wray testified that if he should ever be in a situation where Trump should try to get him to drop an investigation, he would first try to talk him out of it, and if he couldn’t, he’d resign.

Trump nominated Wray, an attorney, after he fired former FBI Director James Comey in May, saying he had lost confidence in Comey’s leadership of the investigation into potential collusion during the 2016 presidential election between Trump campaign officials and the Kremlin.

>>Read the AJC’s live coverage of Wray’s testimony here.

Here is what other media outlets are saying about Wray’s testimony on Wednesday.

What did Trump’s FBI nominee know of US torture post-9/11?

“Today Washington’s attention turns to the confirmation hearing of Christopher Wray, nominated by President Trump as FBI Director following the firing of James Comey in that position.

In the inevitable focus on the Russia investigation and Comey firing fallout, Senate Judiciary Committee members would be remiss not to use the opportunity to probe the issue of Wray’s previous role as Assistant Attorney General in President George W. Bush’s Justice Department. What are his past and current views on the use of torture in interrogations?”

Attention, President Trump: Your new FBI nominee doesn't think the Russia probe is a witch hunt

“In normal times, it wouldn’t be headline news if a nominee for director of the FBI rejected the notion of taking a personal loyalty oath to the president or refused to characterize as a “witch hunt” an investigation into highly plausible allegations that a hostile foreign country interfered in a U.S. election.

But when Christopher A. Wray, President Trump’s nominee to head the bureau, took those positions at his confirmation hearing Wednesday, there was the proverbial audible sigh of relief in Washington.

That is because these are not normal times and Donald Trump is not a normal president.”

Trump's FBI pick testified that he's been "too busy" to learn about Trump Jr's Russia meeting

“All of Washington has been transfixed by the emails revealing that Donald Trump, Jr. took a meeting with a lawyer said to have ties to the Russian government to get dirt on Hillary Clinton during his father’s election campaign last year. All, that is, except—apparently—for Christopher Wray, US president Donald Trump’s nominee for head of the FBI.

Wray said during his Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday that he had “missed” the news about the emails, which Trump Jr. himself released on Twitter this week, and therefore couldn’t comment on whether the president’s son should have taken the meeting. Legal analysts from both sides of the political spectrum have argued that the meeting shows the Trump administration sought Russian aid in the 2016 campaign. That could be a federal crime and—if real information was offered, which Trump Jr. has said it wasn’t—could imply a laundry list of other crimes too.”

Click here to read the rest of the post.