Christie offered support for Wray nomination to White House

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie spoke privately with the White House to boost the nomination of Christopher Wray as FBI director, according to written remarks submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Wray represented Christie during the so-called Bridgegate scandal, in which top aides and political appointees of the GOP governor plotted to shut down traffic to the George Washington Bridge as political payback.

In a written response to questions from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) about his nomination, Wray said he was “not aware” of Christie having recommended his name to either Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, or any White House officials before he was first interviewed for the job on May 30.

“Sometime after I was initially interviewed by the president, it is my understanding that Governor Christie was contacted by the White House regarding my nomination,” Wray wrote in his “questions for the record” to the Judiciary Committee.

He added: “I was not a party to any such discussions, but I understand that Governor Christie may have said positive things about me that were in substance limited to what Governor Christie has also said publicly in support of my nomination.”

At least one Democratic senator, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, has seized on Wray’s ties to Christie to argue the corporate lawyer and former high-ranking Justice Department official is unfit to succeed James Comey as FBI director. Other senators may not be so concerned; questions about Wray’s work on behalf of Christie didn’t surface during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week.

Meanwhile, several influential Democrats, including Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee, have come out in favor of Wray's confirmation.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) wants to get Wray confirmed before senators leave for the August recess, and Wray could be approved by the committee as early as Thursday.

Wray also stressed in his written responses that while in private practice, he personally has not worked on matters involving President Donald Trump and his family's business interests or the Russian state-owned oil companies Rosneft and Gazprom — who are clients of his current law firm, King & Spalding. Wray’s opponents have also pounced on his law firm’s ties to those clients.

“My loyalty is to the United States,” Wray wrote in response to questions from Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii). “I have never represented a Russian company or any individual connected with the Russian government. If there are or were to be investigations in which King & Spalding was involved as counsel, I would consult with the appropriate ethics officials and take appropriate action with regard to my participating in such investigations.”

His law partner, Bobby Burchfield, is an ethics adviser for a trust created earlier this year to handle conflict-of-interest concerns involving Trump and his business interests. But Wray said in the written remarks that he has “not personally participated in the representation of, or done, any work for, that trust.”

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/07/19/chris-christie-wray-support-240717