Wray faces confirmation hearing to replace Comey

Christopher Wray, President Trump’s pick for the vacant FBI director post, faces his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee today.  If all goes as expected, Wray will replace James Comey, whom Mr Trump fired two months ago.

Wray, who according to the president is “a man of impeccable credentials,” isn’t exactly an outsider. Between 2003 and 2005, he worked as assistant attorney general under then-FBI Director Robert Mueller, who now leads the Russia investigation, and then-Deputy Attorney-General James Comey.

He is said to have sided with the two during their 2004 showdown with the Bush administration, in which they opposed the NSA’s illegal terrorist surveillance program. Despite this, Wray may face some uncomfortable questions; he defended New Jersey Governor Chris Christie during the infamous Bridgegate scandal and his former law firm has ties to Russian energy companies.

James Comey’s dismissal cast doubt over Trump’s ability to tolerate an independent FBI director. Wray now has the unenviable task of ensuring that it’s not just the president that thinks “he’s gonna be great.”