CHRIS WRAY/FBI/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Christopher A. Wray, the director of the F.B.I., defended his work force on Thursday [12-7-17] in a politically charged hearing on Capitol Hill, rebutting President Trump’s accusation that the bureau was in ‘tatters’ and fending off attacks from Republicans on personnel…
Mr. Wray was pressed by Republicans on the political leanings of F.B.I. agents and Justice Department prosecutors. Lawmakers tried to cast doubt on the impartiality of the Justice Department’s special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, noting that prosecutors on his team donated to Democrats.
They also repeatedly brought up Peter Strzok, an F.B.I. agent who was removed from Mr. Mueller’s staff because of potentially anti-Trump text messages he traded with another person on the team. Mr. Strzok was also a key member of the F.B.I. team that investigated whether Hillary Clinton and her aides mishandled classified information. According to F.B.I. documents, he interviewed Mrs. Clinton.
Representative John Ratcliffe, Republican of Texas, said there were questions about Mr. Strzok’s integrity if in fact he was anti-Trump. Mr. Ratcliffe said that Mr. Strzok had been demoted, an assertion that Mr. Wray disputed. He said Mr. Strzok had been reassigned…
Mr. Wray said he was working to ensure that politics stayed out of the F.B.I.’s investigations.”
-Adam Goldman, “F.B.I. Director Denies Political Bias Is Tainting Investigations,” The New York Times online, Dec. 7, 2017