FBI Director Chris Wray defended the “real FBI” during a contentious congressional hearing Wednesday, rejecting a litany of grievances from angry Republicans who are harshly critical of the bureau.
This new dynamic has forced Democrats into a position of defending law enforcement agencies they have long criticized. Wray testified for nearly six hours.
But the top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, said the hearing was “little more than performance art” by Republicans who are undertaking what he called baseless investigations too far-fetched to be true. During one tense exchange with Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., Wray noted that in Florida, the number of FBI applicants is up by more than 100%.Typically measured, Wray became animated by the suggestion from Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., that the FBI would have been involved in suppressing a theory that the coronavirus pandemic originated via a leak from a laboratory in China rather than a transfer from animals to humans.
Jordan has been laying the groundwork for Wray’s appearance since House Republicans took the majority in January. At one point, Rep. Thomas Massie showed a short surveillance video of the moments before officials found a pipe bomb outside the Democratic National Committee's Capitol Hill headquarters on the day of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. Massie, R-Ky., demanded answers about the investigation, which is ongoing.Republican criticisms of the FBI stretch back years, but became more prominent during the Trump-Russia investigation, when the Justice Department probed interference in the 2016 election.
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