In congressional testimony last Wednesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray defended the bureau in light of special counsel John Durham’s recent report, saying the “leadership team” is not made up of political appointees and each member is a patriot, Just the News reported.
In his final report on the probe into the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation, John Durham concluded that the bureau did not have sufficient evidence to open the investigation and found that the FBI abused the FISA process to surveil Trump associates.
While appearing before the House Judiciary Committee last week, Wray came under fire from chairman Jim Jordan who warned the director that Republicans would oppose reauthorizing FISA without significant reforms to Section 702.
Later in his testimony, Wray admitted that there were “failures” in the FBI’s FISA compliance but said the bureau’s implemented reforms have resulted in “significant improvement.” He said the bureau would continue “working on this,” as Section 702 is “an incredibly important tool” in protecting Americans from “very serious foreign threats.”
Wray also faced questions on the FBI’s involvement in the January 6 riot at the Capitol.
When California Rep Darrell Issa asked if any FBI agents had entered the Capitol that day, Wray refused to answer, referring Issa instead to court filings.
Chairman Jordan also pressed Director Wray on the recent revelation that the Richmond FBI field office sent out an intelligence assessment recommending that agents infiltrate traditionalist Catholic churches to look for domestic violent extremists.
According to Wray, after the assessment was subjected to an “internal review,” he ordered for it to be removed from the FBI systems. He insisted that no specific investigative action resulted from the assessment.
When Jordan asked if members of the committee would be able to receive a redacted copy of the assessment and talk to the agents who wrote it, Wray declined to answer, saying instead that the FBI could brief the committee on the results of the internal review. He assured Jordan that the assessment “is not something I will defend or excuse.”
