Al Franken gave Christopher Wray his seal of approval.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

That means a lot to me and I hope he's right.

[onecaliberal]

1. Mr. Wray is yet another individual with links to Russia.

[MoonRiver]

3. How so?

[onecaliberal]

4. His firm represents Russian oil

[pnwmom]

35. Any firm with 800 lawyers probably has some Russian connections. n/t

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. He worked for a law firm, King & Spalding, that has Russian clients.

King & Spalding has 800 lawyers in 17 offices. I have not heard whether Wray actually represented or had any involvement with those clients.

[Hoyt]

23. King & Spalding have probably had every kind of client one can think of AND Clinton's campaign

received a good bit of contributions from them. GOPers got contributions too, but not for Prez. The amounts include contributions made by individuals.

https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/recips.php?id=D000000550&type=P&cycle=2016&sort=A&state=

[Bleacher Creature]

2. That means a lot to me as well.

I really trust his judgment and hope to hell that he's right.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

10. The room was tense with the expectation Al would roast him.

The questioning was cordial. I respect Al's judgment .

[global1]

21. It Seemed To Me That Sen. Franken Was Il-Prepared To Ask Questions.....

this is actually the first time that I've seen this in him. He almost sounded like he was filibustering his own line of questioning - stalling with complimenting other Senators. Usually he has a number of cogent questions prepared and he fires them off relatively fast in order to get the most of his questioning time. Today he didn't do that. Perhaps when meeting with Wray in a private session - he came away with all he needed to know in order to support him. Also - perhaps many of the questions he prepared were already asked. Franken is my political idol - but today he just seemed to be a bit out of sorts on unprepared.

Did anybody else get that same impression?

[3catwoman3]

27. Interesting observation. He did not seem quite as...

...on point as usual -stumbled over his words a couple of times, and some thoughts seemed incomplete.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

12. Big mistake!

[FarPoint]

6. There is so much we don't know...

It stresses me out to try and read between the lines ..I'll trust Seanator Al Franken.....

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

13. More interested in what Bernie has to say.

[NurseJackie]

7. That's not something that Al Franken does lightly...

... this is not an automatic or perfunctory process for Franken. He takes these things very seriously.

That's why I admire him so much. Al Franken (D) TOTALLY ROCKS!! He's one of us!!

He makes me proud to be a DEMOCRAT and we need more DEMOCRATS (D) just like him in the Senate.

Things aren't as we'd hoped they would be, but we can TRUST Al Franken (D) to make realistic decisions that best serve the interests of our nation.

Al Franken is focused on strengthening the DEMOCRATIC Party... not attacking from within... not denigrating, and not dividing and weakening our party. Thank you Minnesota! As a nation, as a people, we are SO VERY FORTUNATE that the citizens of Minnesota elected Al Franken (D) to represent them in the Senate.

[ProfessorGAC]

15. What Jackie Said! (nt)

[Gabi Hayes]

22. His new book is essential read/listen

Inspirational, compelling, instructive in quotidian senate affairs, including winning
Respect of Sessions.....at first

ROFL in spots

He loves nailing the lying liars during testimony

That said, how can ANY of DT nominees ever be trusted?

[ProfessorGAC]

33. I See Your Point

I loved "lying liars". I'll have to get the new book.

But, in this case, i'll trust Al. He was actually in the room with the guy. When he didn't think much of other nominees, he said so. Hence, i'm trusting his judgment.

[NastyRiffraff]

40. Yes, I too trust Al Franken

He doesn't give his support lightly. I feel better about Christopher Wray now.

[awesomerwb1]

8. A few of these guys seemed decent in their hearings

but then....

Remember Kelly? He seemed like he'd be one of the few grown ups in the room. Look at him now, paling around with Trump and Sessions and going after every undocumented in sight and going as far a saying he'd separate moms from their sons and daughters at the border.

I don't trust anyone Trump appoints.

Love Al Franken, and I hope he's right, but the Dems keep getting duped time and time again.

[ElementaryPenguin]

9. I think - much to Trump's dismay - Wray is going to be independent - and a very good FBI chief.

Just like with his appointment of Mueller, Rosenstein has screwed Benedict Donald again!!!

[OliverQ]

11. Feinstein said she's voting yes too.

Not happy Dems are so on board with a Trump appointee.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

14. Me either!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

37. I don't dislike or distrust DiFi but she is much more accommodating than Al Franken.

I hope Wray doesn't let Al and us down.

I expect him to follow the law. That's not asking for the moon.

[Whiskeytide]

16. I DO have great confidence in Franken's ...

... ethics and sense of duty. But that doesn't mean that he can't be misled by these guys.

Wray has inside information about the investigation already. That means (1) he's willing to pledge independence because he knows Trump is toast and will be unable to retaliate, or (2) he's willing to pledge independence because he knows the investigation is going to eventually fold and end up a wet noodle, and Trump will remain prez.

I don't see much in the way of other scenarios. It's possible that Wray is simply an honorable and decent man, and is pledging independence because it is the honorable and decent thing to do. But so far I have not seen any evidence that Trump appointees, admin officials or family members - really anyone even remotely associated with the man - have much at all in the way of honor or decency, so I won't be holding my breath.

Maybe this crazy train is just making me cynical.

[Gothmog]

17. This endorsement means a great deal to me

I feel much better about Wray after Senator Franken's comments

[Kaleva]

18. If Sen. Franken approves, then I'm okay with Wray.

[Thrill]

19. Well he's said all the right things

But we all know. He wouldn't have got the nomination if he didn't assure Trump he would stop the Russian investigation

[Kaleva]

29. I don't think wray is that stupid and risk going to jail himself as part of a conspiracy

Besides, the FBI Director doesn't have the authority to stop Mueller and his team.

[DefenseLawyer]

20. As if Trump and Sessions and the fellas would nominate someone they couldn't control.

Sorry. I'm not on board.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

26. Didn't they hire Rosenstein who hired Mueller who represents the sum of all Team Trump's fears ?

Maybe they let two honest men sneak through.

[DefenseLawyer]

34. I assure you Sessions was not anticipating a real investigation much less having to recuse himself

when they chose Rosenstein. At this point they know exactly what is happening and where they stand. I hope I'm wrong, but I refuse to give Jeff Sessions the benefit of the doubt.

[Kaleva]

30. I second DemocratSinceBirth. How about Rosenstein who picked Mueller?

And isn't Trump pissed at Sessions who recused himself.

[Hoyt]

24. Oh Jeez, they'll be saying Trump is becoming "presidential." LMAO.

[mucifer]

25. I hope Franken is right. He did mess up one huge thing.

He believed w and Powell about going to war in Iraq. He wasn't a senator then and had less info. But, still that was awful.

[Lotusflower70]

28. It's interesting

But I trust my Senator. He must have gotten a lot out of the private meeting. I like that he readdressed Jeff Sessions. Some of the questions were already asked. I also like that he asked about what would Wray report if there were any illegal requests. He was a little rough out of the gate but I think it was because some of the questions were already raised. Amy Klobuchar asked some good questions too.

[zipplewrath]

31. Anyone ask about torture?

Seem to remember he was in deep in that crap back then.

[Solly Mack]

32. Wray is currently explaining away his role in the torture memos.

His (Wray) claim he didn't think it part of the criminal division's job, but Durbin saying the memo doesn't reflect that view.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/guantanamo/article154889184.html

________But a deeper dive shows that during his period as assistant attorney general in charge of the Department of Justice Criminal Division Wray was notified early about the ongoing Central Intelligence Agency investigation of abuse at Abu Ghraib. Notably, he was alerted to the suspected homicide of a captive who came to be known as the iceman because of lurid, leaked photos showing the corpse of Manadel al-Jamadi packed in ice.

A Feb. 20, 2004 memo, “Possible Violations of Federal Law,” notified Wray of the suspected homicide of Jamadi and an ongoing CIA Inspector General’s investigation of his death after his capture by a Navy Seal team in Iraq three months earlier. “I am writing to you pursuant to Title 50 U.S.C. §403q(b)(5) to report information concerning possible violations of federal criminal law,” wrote then CIA Assistant Inspector General for Investigations Mona B. Alderson.

Less than three months later, on May 5, 2004, Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee, in response to a question from Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, “My principal awareness of the abuse that you are describing, that you are referring to, is through the news media, and like you and like so many others, obviously I deplore any mistreatment.”

Leahy, the committee’s senior Democrat at the time had asked Wray specifically, “What actions has the Department of Justice taken with respect to investigating and possibly prosecuting criminal conduct by American civilians at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq or at any of the other places where the administration has evidence, and the administration does have evidence, of other torture that has not been made public yet? What actions have you taken?”__________


There are more articles from that time on Wray, if you look.

[beam me up scottie]

38. He knew what was going on.

Those images brought back some awful memories but it's necessary to remind people of his role.

I want to trust Franken but Wray's involvement in the torture memos isn't easy to forget or forgive.

[Solly Mack]

39. Yes, he knew.

And I can't forget.

Absolution will have to come from the victims. I can't do it.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

36. Al Franken is OK with him, and that's enough for me.

Al is my Senator and I trust his judgment (also, Al wrote the "Julia Child"/Dan Aykroyd skit for SNL, which is further proof that he's awesome). I know it's very tempting to reject out of hand any Trump nominee, since most of them have turned out to be some combination of unqualified, stupid and corrupt. But in this case I think what they did (after Joe Liebermann backed out, fortunately) was select someone who has solid professional credentials and a good chance to be confirmed on a bipartisan basis because, under the circumstances, they had to.

I think that because of the Comey firing blowing up in Trump's face and the Russia scandal heating up, they (and by "they" I mean people other than Trump, who probably had little to do with the selection) decided this time to avoid a controversial candidate or one who was obviously politically-connected or politically biased. But the Trump administration still has the mindset that if one of their appointees displeases him they can just fire him as if he was an employee of the criminal enterprise known as the Trump Organization.

Wray said all the right things, and I hope he means them. The hearings aren't as meaningful as the private meetings with the individual senators since they consist mostly of tendentious and sometimes irrelevant questioning intended more for the consumption of the senators' constituents so they can say later that they were really tough on the nominee because blah blah, blah; or that they really liked the nominee because blah blah blah. But Franken also met with him privately, and that's probably where he was able to make a better evaluation.

[ecstatic]

41. I don't trust Wray. He was nominated by trump & accepted

Strikes 1&2.

At the hearing, Wray just said what people wanted to hear. Lindsey Graham had to ask at least 3 times about the correct response to foreign collusion. Strike 3.

Lying isn't an issue for these snakes. But I guess someone has to be confirmed. At least he's on record, under oath, making these promises.

[bluestarone]

42. I fully trust Al But

seems like they are all the Jekyll Hyde type when getting confirmed!

[alarimer]

43. Think for yourselves, people.

You absolutely cannot "trust the judgement" of ANY elected official, automatically. Wray has been linked to torture memos and Gitmo. Besides, he's nominated by Trump, so they all need to vote "no." It is highly unlikely that he will actually be independent (for fear of being fired) when it comes to Trump team investigations. Trump should not have any of his nominees confirmed with Dem (or Independent, for that matter) help. Not that they need it. But a vote for a Trump nominee is an automatically disqualifier for higher office.

https://www.democracynow.org/2017/7/12/senate_begins_confirmation_hearings_for_trump

[lillypaddle]

44. I like Christopher Wray as well

He will be easily confirmed.