Transcripts For FOXNEWSW Americas Newsroom With Bill Hemmer And Sandra Smith 20171207

I still think that mueller can produce a product that we all have confidence in, but things like this make it really difficult. The perception is every bit as important as the reality. If the perception is youre employing people who are biased, it makes it really difficult for those of us who would like to defend the integrity of former prosecutors and heads of the f. B. I. Sandra a big show for you today. Trey gowdy will be in todays hearing and is standing by. We begin with chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge this morning. She is live on the hill. Good morning. Were expecting lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee to drill down on the issue of alleged bias on the clinton email investigation as well as the russia investigation. Fox news confirmed late yesterday they had uncovered more than 10,000 Text Messages sent by peter strzok to an f. B. I. Lawyer with whom he was romantically involved. It was in these texts there were antitrump sentiments. It could take several weeks to review all the Text Messages before they can be provided to the House Intelligence Committee but some republicans are already crying foul saying the Justice Department and f. B. I. Are slow rolling the release of those records. In addition this week the revelation after Judicial Watch lawsuit there was an email from andrew wiseman, a top deputy on the russia probe under Robert Mueller to then acting attorney general sally yates. Yates had just been fired by the president for refusing to defend the travel ban. Andrew wiseman writes in that email under the subject line im proud and in awe. Grateful thanks and deepest respect. People will have to decide for themselves whether that is another indicator of bias on the russia investigation. Two senators, grassley and johnson, have sent a letter to the Justice Department whether theyre aware of any other incidents in line with the strzok case and now the wiseman email. Sandra what about the dossier issue . The f. B. I. Has been dragging its feet there. Thats the other big issue to watch today in terms of the russia case. You will recall that the head of an Opposition Research firm glen simpson, fusion gps. We have confirmation now their research for the dossier was funded by the dnc and the Clinton Campaign. The questions republicans want answered is to what extent the f. B. I. Relied on that unverified dossier to obtain surveillance warrants which captured the communications of Trump Campaign associates. And here is one of the members of the Committee Just a short time ago on the issue. The Clinton Campaign paid russians for this report, this dossier and it has been reported that this dossier was all dressed up by the government, taken to the fisa court and became the basis to spy on americans. So i think thats what happened. All the evidence points to that as being what took place. Christopher wray can clear this all up. There may also be movement on this issue. We were told the Justice Department and f. B. I. May be willing to make key witnesses available to the House Intelligence Committee. They would include strzok, andrew mccabe, f. B. I. Deputy director as well as the f. B. I. Agent who was the point person, the handler for christopher steele, the british spy who gathered the research for the dossier. If that happens in the near future it would be in a closed, nonpublic setting so we wouldnt be able to hear the testimony about those issues, sandra. Sandra thank you. Bill trey gowdy was in yesterdays closed door session with donald trump junior and in todays hearing as well. He joins us live. Welcome back, good morning. Thank you. Bill wray took over for comey when comey was fired by the president in may. What is your first question . What are you going to do to restore peoples confidence trust in the department of justice. Not just strzok, thats the latest and im afraid it wont be the last. I think there will be other revelations of bias, prejudice and Improper Conduct on behalf of the department of justice. My first question to him is what will you do to repair not congresss trust, but the american Peoples Trust in that blindfolded Woman Holding a set of scales. Bill the president said the reputation of the f. B. I. Is in tatters. Based on that answer i guess you agrie with the president. Well, i work with line agents. The line women and men back in South Carolina and other states. Their reputation is not in tatters. Theyre the kind of people we want working in our Justice Department. But the higher ups have had a really bad two years. Right now the American People arent focused on the great agents in South Carolina. Theyre focused on comey and mccabe and comey and now wray. Its the higher ups whose reputations are under assault, not the line agents. Bill is the integrity of the agency in question then now . Of course it is. Congress should not have to fight with the f. B. I. To access information that were entitled to. We should not have to threaten contempt of congress. I dont want the drama of a contempt of Congress Floor fight. I want to information to do our jobs and we shouldnt have to fight with the department of justice to access that information. Bill when they change the wording to extremely careless on the Hillary Clinton email matter, was that wrong . Thats one of a half dozen things that this particular agent did. But keep in mind, bill, why he did it. Gross negligent is the phrase in the statute. That was the phraseology in the initial draft. It tracked the statute. Its really difficult to say we arent going to prosecute you under a statute when we use the precise words. He changed it to extremely careless. There is no difference. The difference is they werent going to charge her so didnt want to use the words of the statute and they changed them. My bigger problem if he had proclinton or antitrump bias what was he doing talking to Hillary Clinton. Bill donald trump junior answered questions for 10 hours yesterday. Sandra close to 10. It seemed longer. Bill you said he was incredibly professional. Did he break any laws, sir . No, i dont think he did anything improper. Differing minds can quibble whether or not you should accept an offer to provide research. Keep in mind the dnc was paying 10 million to do research on trump. The only difference is we dont have an email. Glenn simpson from fusion gps reportedly met with this exact same russian lawyer before and after donald trump junior did. We dont have an email. Bill that meeting was in trump tower in june of 2016. Apparently he had a conversation about that meeting with his father, then candidate trump about three weeks later. That seems to be the timeline ive put together based on reading the excerpts from yesterday. I think it was 11 months later. The meeting was in june of 2016, conversations with his father were june of july of 2017. Bill 13 months later. Your colleague said he cited Attorney Client privilege with regard to that conversation. Adam schiff has a real problem with that. Do you . Its funny, adam does not have a problem when democrat witnesses cite privilege. Glenn simpson cited some judge in alaska for a First Amendment privilege that no one has heard of before. Adam didnt have a problem with that. Apply the same standard to republican witnesses as you do democrat witnesses. Maybe then the public would have more confidence in our investigations. Number one, when you leak what happened after you said you wouldnt and then you mischaracterize it of course nobody is going to have any confidence in our investigation. Bill you are an attorney. Is he legally allowed to cite that privilege in the room yesterday . He is unless there is a waiver. Adam went through the litany of question if there was a waiver. The answer was no. I guess adam didnt like the answers but those are the answers. Bill how significant is the hearing today . What should viewers be listening for . Whether or not they trust this person to restore the reputation of the f. B. I. Thats all they should be listening for. Is this the right person for us to have confidence in the nations premier Law Enforcement agency Going Forward . Bill were watching at 10 00 a. M. Eastern time. Trey gowdy the republican on South Carolina. Sandra crews facing an uphill battle as they fight to contain three major wildfires burning in Southern California. Officials say it could get worse before it will get any better. Right now the focus on the thomas fire north of los angeles. It has scorched more than 140 square miles and prompted evacuation orders for tens of thousands of people. Authorities say the weather is not helping. Extremely low relative humidity. That will cause our fuels that are already desiccated in the late fall conditions to continue to dry. There is a lot of potential for some large fire growth on the north and west side of this fire in the next 24 to 48 hours. Sandra the fires have destroyed nearly 200 homes and buildings so far. Winds are expected to get stronger and stronger and continue to fan those flames. We will be live on the ground later this hour. What a horrible situation happening there. Bill we were captivated by the images coming before the sun came up yesterday right along the 405 freeway. We will hope for the best today. Sandra so many risking their lives to fight the fire. Bill the winds are tough stuff. 11 minutes past the hour. Another story were watching. Al franken will be making an announcement today on his future after an avalanche of resignation calls. What will he do . What will he decide . Well bring you there live in a moment. It could happen, the democrats are really looking at something that is very dangerous for our country. They are looking at shutting down. Sandra a high stakes showdown looms in washington President Trump calling out democrats yet again just hours before a big meeting at the white house. South dakota senator john thune is a key senator involved on everything from the shutdown battle to tax reform and he will be here live. Plus this. Bill these are ongoing clashes in the west bank, hamas calls for an uprising after trumps announcement about jerusalem. Were on the ground letting you know whats happening on that front today. We dont want to see killings and violence. Lets do a reality check. Jerusalem is the capital of israel. So were acknowledging something that is common sense to everyone. E running all over the country in search of our big idaho potato truck. But not any more. I am done with that. Ooh, ooh hot just gonna stay home on the farm, eat a beautiful idaho potato, and watch tv with my dog. Tv anncr the big idaho potato truck pulled into town today and its really a sight to see. Oh man. Lets go. distant you comin, boy . Sfx dog gulp woof. I hope he will do the right thing and step aside. I feel there has been a series of allegations that are serious and when he speaks to the nation and folks back home in minnesota that it would be the best step if he stepped down. I do not feel he should continue to serve. Everyone will make their own judgments. I hope they do make their own judgments. Bill al franken has an avalanche of calls to step aside. Awaiting announcement from the democratic senator. This comes only two days after the veteran democrat out of detroit, john conyers, resigned as well. Want to bring in fox News Politics editor chris stirewalt. Welcome back to the morning show. We missed you, my friend. 48 democrats serving in the senate. 32 have said step aside. Why did the dam break yesterday . In part it was because allegations kept coming. You had another accusation that was particularly gross that came forward. The other thing is gillibrand has emerged as really the leader on this issue. Her prominence in the Democratic Party in the senate. This one she basically looks like to me she said this is going to happen and Chuck Schumer, her fellow new york senator basically said okay, here we go. Then it began. The republicans can take a lesson from how the democrats handled this issue. It was clearly a series of coordinated strikes. It kept rolling out throughout the day until at the close of the day the Senate Democratic leader schumer comes forward and says its time to go. Go ahead. Bill this is from frankens twitter feed, all right . He is talking with his family at this time and plans to make an announcement in d. C. Tomorrow. Any reports of a final decision are inaccurate. What does he do . You mentioned Chuck Schumer said step aside. The democratic leader in the senate. Even those who have done wrong are deserving of mercy. So i dont want to be too unkind here. But al franken kind of needs to get over himself. It is beyond him now and part of the reason that he is going to have to step down is the way that he botched his response to all of this in refusing to take ownership of it. He did the fake apology, the nonapology, im sorry you felt bad and uncomfortable. Not im sorry i made you uncomfortable. His refusal to actually own this thing and to deal with it as some sort of a nuisance that he was going to brush aside was a big part of why he has ended up in this situation. Bill were just getting this now. The tweet i read was from last night. Now al frank en says 11 45 a. M. Eastern time he will make a statement from the floor of the senate. Is that a surprise to you . What if he decided to stay and fight. If he decided to stay and fight until most of all of his fellow democrats it would be a blessing for republicans. A huge blessing for republicans who are right now facing the prospect of roy moore potentially arriving in their midst. That would be a if al franken wants to help the republicans. He can do more for the Republican Party today if he fits his fellow democrats and does all of that, it will be an enormous boon to donald trump and roy moore. They will be cheering him on this morning. Bill the vote is next tuesday in alabama. If he were to resign he with do it from his office and not from the senate floor . Maybe he will go and give a farewell address. Maybe he does that. I would think this, that instead if you were going to resign you would just resign. If youre resigning in disgrace nobody particularly wants to hear about your disgrace. As john conyers found out call it whatever you want, when you leave under a cloud of scandal you are just leaving. Franken going to the senate floor that has some potential that maybe he wants to make a scene. Maybe he wants to put his fellow democrats into anguish over the anguish he feels they have caused him. Bill were guessing at the moment. 11 45 we should know, if not before then. Thank you, chris stirewalt. 9 20 eastern time. Sandra authorities warning of unprecedented conditions as massive wildfires continue to tear through Southern California. Those are live images coming into our newsroom at this moment. We will be live on the ground right after the break with more on that. This as the scope of the destruction is clearly coming into focus. Some folks losing their homes in a matter of minutes. You build this house and everywhere we live. All our travels. Everything. Bill just to repeat the headline a moment ago. Al franken on the floor of the senate at 11 45 eastern time. Live coverage. What will he do . We do not know. The recent allegations, accusations against him. 32 democrats on the senate side yesterday saying he should step aside. Well see what he says when he says it. Jason chaffetz reminds us moments ago during the commercial break what you say on the floor of the senate gives you immunity. You cant be prosecuted for it. It may explain the reason why he chose the venue today. Sandra this coming after an outpouring of calls from democrats to step down but still we arent getting any guidance as to what exactly he plans to say on the senate floor. That coming up in a couple hours. All right. Meanwhile another big story today. Southern california bracing for potential Hurricane Force winds at this hour as crews battle three major wildfires that have forced tens of thousands of people from their homes. Stunning images coming in live to our newsroom right now. Jonathan hunt is reporting live from ventura. Jonathan, you got onto the front lines overnight. What did you see . How was that . Its a pretty rare opportunity to get right onto the front lines, sandra. It is in part terrifying and in part inspiring as you watch the heroic efforts of firefighters. Here is what it looked like. Were in the hills in Ventura County what firefighters are doing is trying to prevent the flames that are burning here from jumping these roads so theyve been setting backfires. The intensity of the flame quite extraordinary at this point. The firefighters are backing away from it. It is an intense fire fight that is likely to go on for at least another 24 hours. And thanks to the skills and in no short measure the bravery of those firefighters, sandra, they were able to halt the forward progress of those flames and save the small city of santa paula for now at least. Sandra a lot of fears today with those high winds. Interesting, just as the sun is coming up here now, sandra, the winds have been picking up. It has been extremely still but we can feel it coming now. The forecast is that the wind gusts could get up as high as 70 to 80 miles an hour. It would be hurricaneforce winds combined with these fires. You can imagine how deadly and dangerous that is. The town of ohi, a picturesque town between l. A. And Santa Barbara is most at risk there. The flames creeping down the hillside towards that time. Firefighters there and across Southern California face a treacherous and dangerous 24 hours ahead today, sandra. Sandra jonathan hunt, thank you. Bill meanwhile overseas there is outrage erupting in parts of the middle east at this hour. Watch. [gunfire] bill hamas calling for days of rage after the president recognized jerusalem as israels capital city. Were live on the ground for reaction in bethlehem coming up in moments here. Sandra our top story of the day moments if now. F. B. I. Director Christopher Wray set to face house lawmakers as we learn new details about f. B. I. Agent peter strzok. Can he offer anything to restore the Peoples Trust . We now know that had hillary won the corruption would have gotten bigger and deeper. We have never learned any of this and i think its pretty appalling. The level of corruption we are beginning to see in the f. B. I. Bill palestinian leaders calling for days of rage. President trump recognized jerusalem yesterday as the capital of israel. Nikki haley calling it symbolic and more. President trump were no closer to a lasting Peace Agreement between israel and the palestinians. It would be folly to assume that repeating the exact same formula would now produce a different or better result. Therefore, i have determined that it is time to officially recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel. He made a symbolic move to say we are committed to the peace process, we are committed to seeing israelis and palestinians coming together in peace but at the same time well do what the American People have asked us to do. Bill Connor Powell live in jerusalem for the latest today. The morning started out relatively quiet and peaceful with protests around jerusalem but by early afternoon the violence that people warned President Trump that would occur, it began to erupt in bethlehem and other places in the west bank areas. Palestinians were going into this decision angry. Angry at the Economic Situation and angry with the military checkpoints. This decision brought out the anger. Clashes between israelis and palestinians taking place in bethlehem with Israeli Security forces firing tear gas and palestinians throwing rocks and using sling shots to fire rocks at israeli soldiers. In ramallah they burned tires in similar clashes and hebron. Jerusalem its a different story. There were smaller protests and scuffles but nothing major. There were cheers and celebrations among israelis. Last night they put images of the American Flag on the wall of the old jerusalem city. A lot of celebration and happiness and jubilation among israelis, the violence in the west bank. The question Going Forward, bill, is very much does this sustain itself . Is this something well see for one or two days, days of rage or does this snowball into something much worse like what we saw over the fight over the western wall that we saw several months ago . That has the potential this has the potential to spiral into Something Like that and thats what is potentially so dangerous and scary for people watching this area. Bill were watching along with you, thank you, Connor Powell live in jerusalem. Sandra were awaiting f. B. I. Director Christopher Wray on capitol hill where he is set to testify before the House Judiciary Committee. That happening at the top of the hour and on the top of lawmakers minds will be the russia investigation. And recent questions about the f. B. I. s handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. Congressman trey gowdy was on just moments ago and he says this is only the beginning. This is not just strzok, thats the latest. Im afraid strzok wont be the last. I think there will be other revelations of bias and prejudice and Improper Conduct on behalf of the department of justice. My first question to him is what are you going to do to repair not congresss trust but the american Peoples Trust in that blindfolded Woman Holding a set of scales . Sandra joining me now are doug schoen former advisor to president bill clinton and Fox News Contributor and Thomas Dupree former assistant attorney general under george w. Bush. The question today and a question theyll be talking about a lot today, is the f. B. I. Corrupt . We dont really know how to answer that. And it pains me, sandra, as an american, to say that. The issues with peter strzok, the issues with the dossier, and the issues with the way the f. B. I. Has operated raise real questions that Christopher Wray is going to not only have to answer today but address systematically. It does raise questions. I wish i could say trey gowdy was exaggerating. Sadly he is not. Sandra likely to be a lot of questions about the double standard. A block of House Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee say there has been a double standard playing out with these investigations on the treatment of President Trump and the treatment of Hillary Clinton during the email investigation. Sandra, ill say i have been very discouraged by these recent revelations. When i served in the Justice Department, the department and the f. B. I. Really were the Gold Standard of integrity and they were universally regarded as nonpartisan committed to Law Enforcement. There appears to be at least some people who played critical rolls in the Hillary Clinton investigation and now in the trump investigation that seem to have been motivated by a partisan agenda. Completely the opposite to everything the Justice Department and the f. B. I. Stand for, which is neutral independent, nonpartisan enforcement of the laws. Sandra Newt Gingrich was on earlier and made it very clear the average person working at the f. B. I. , man or woman, is still a hard working honest person. But this isnt just one mistake. Listen. The average f. B. I. Agent is still as honest and serious and hard working as ever. But at the very top the Justice Department and the f. B. I. Became corrupted and i think we have to be honest and use that language. This is not an occasional mistake. This was covering up for the next president they thought. Covering up for their foundation. Covering up for their relationship with russia and uranium one. Covering up for the entire process of the investigation. Sandra if thats all true, Christopher Wray has a big job to do in restoring the trust as trey gowdy said. Not just of republicans and democrats, but of the American People. I agree, sandra. One of the things ive said and i would renew it here this morning. We need a special prosecutor on uranium one to investigate how that deal went down, how the dossier came to be prepared and put together, how the f. B. I. Came to get it. All of those issues i think need to be aired because the integrity of our criminal Justice System and secretary clinton are up for grabs. Sandra what do you think. New investigations . Do they think to be opened . Where i might slightly depart ways is if we appoint special prosecutors. I dont trust bob mueller to do both investigations at the same time. I wouldnt put it under muellers jurisdiction, thats for sure. When you put these special counsels in play they take on a life of their own and these investigations can go for decades and go off in directions no one anticipated. So while i certainly think all of these are issues that bear investigation and looking into i guess i would be a little bit cautious about saying lets create someone new, a special prosecutor to look into this. Sandra you brought up a good point about the dossier. Things have gotten quiet when it comes to the dossier, here is jim jordan talking about that yesterday. His question was the dossier discredited paid by the dnc and clinton money. First nobody knows how that dossier got put together. It was allegedly a lawyer i think mr. Elias spending 13 half million on his own instigation. That strange thing. How was the dossier put together by mr. Steele . Who contributed in russia . What were the underlying economic and political arrangements . What is the veracity of it . Those are questions we need to get litigated and look, bob mueller has a lot on his plate. The point i was trying to make is i dont really think he should do both investigations. But whether it be the Justice Department or another special prosecutor, we need a full independent investigation of the f. B. I. Sandra tom, set this up for us. This is set to begin in 20 minutes. The f. B. I. And Christopher Wray in the hot seat facing a grilling from republican lawmakers. I dont envy chris wray at this moment. He is on the hot seat today and a big task in front of him. He needs to reassure the committee and the American People that the f. B. I. Remains a neutral, independent Law Enforcement agency. He is number one. Going to have to explain how strzok and other people with partisan interests were playing such integral roles in these investigations and explain what steps he is putting in place to ensure that any taint of bias or partisan politics has been purged from these ongoing investigations. A big task. I think chris wray is a man of integrity and up to the job and see how he does today. Sandra well see him in a few minutes. Thank you for coming on set this morning. Bill were hearing senator al franken makes a statement two hours from now. He will be back on the floor of the senate at 11 45 a. M. Eastern time as the dam broke yesterday. More than 30 Democratic Senators calling for him to resign. More on that in a moment. Plus there is this. President trump the house and senate are negotiating the final bill and i cannot wait to sign these giant tax cuts, and reforms. It is also reforms. But i am looking forward to signing it. It will be the largest tax cuts by far in the history of our country. Sandra President Trump pushing hard selling tax reform as it enters the homestretch. The senate votes to go to conference with the house. John thune, chairman of the Senate Republican conference on where the votes are today. My daughter is. Studying to be a dentist and she gave me advice. She said. Dadgo pro with crest prohealth. 4 out of 5 dentists confirm. These crest prohealth. Products help maintain a. Professional clean. Go pro with Crest Pro Health crest prohealth. Really brought my mouth. To the next level. avo but you also have a higher risk of heart attack or stroke. 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Bill President Trump suggesting the fight over immigration could lead to a Government Shutdown. Congress needs an agreement on a spending bill before a deadline tomorrow and even then it might be a two week extension. Senator john thune chairman of the Senate Republican congress. I have a couple of things to go over. The shutdown. How do you get a Government Shutdown when republicans control the house . The thing about the senate, of course, as you know on a spending bill takes 60 votes in the senate. We only have 52 republicans. We have to have democrats work with us. We cant ignore the democrats in these discussions. Thats the purpose of the meeting this afternoon at the white house between the democrat, Republican Leadership and president. Hopefully they will get it passed forward. Well pass a shortterm twoweek funding bill that will get us up to december 22 and that vote should happen later today. Bill do you fear a shutdown . Is that at the top of your mind . There is no appetite for a shutdown. Thats not necessary. When they sit down this afternoon hopefully they can negotiate an agreement that will enable us to fund the government for the next year and do the other things we need to be able to do. Obviously i think the democrats probably view it as a political opportunity if the government were to shut down. But im hoping cooler heads will prevail. Both sides come together and well be able to get the bipartisan majority to pass a longer term funding bill. Bill we just heard from the president. Youre in conference now on the tax bill. He has a different phrase for it. Watch here. President trump i call it the mixer. Its in conference now. I call it the mixer. When it comes out it is going to be a beautiful mix. There are things that i like better in the senate bill. There are things i like better in the house bill. I think when they come out well have some new additions and well have the best of each. I think well have a fantastic tax bill. Bill i dont know if its a mixer but whatever it is you are in a new phase. Right. Bill i think what americans want to know is what is changing in the bill that they need to understand that affects them . The nice thing about the process the Conference Committee is the last step in the process before we get a bill through the house and senate and on the president s desk which i hope we get done before christmas. The senate bill moved closer to the house. Were in a position, i think, to merge those bills. There are a couple of key differences that well have to work through. I think the issue how you treat state and local Tax Deduction is something where the house and senate are in slightly different places. How we treat passthrough businesses. How we take the two bills and reconcile those when it comes to passthroughs. By and large you have the doubling of the standard deduction, the expansion of child tax credit, the lower rates on both individuals and businesses in both bills. Those are the key elements of the bill. Theyre the foundation, those are the things that we use to deliver hard i should say meaningful tax relief to hard working americans. I think well get there. Bill look at the calendar. You have three weeks to do this. You mentioned christmas. Will you get this done in 2017 . We will. And there is a sense of urgency about it. We know both house and Senate Negotiators are already informal discussions occurring. We will have to sit down in a more formal context to negotiate the finer points but we need to get a bill out of the Conference Committee hopefully sometime next week and eventually on the president s desk before the christmas holiday. Bill any chance youre there between christmas and new years . You never know. Ive been here on Christmas Eve and new years eve in the past. If we are it will probably be on something else. I think the tax bill should be done and if we end up with some prolonged debate on the spending bill. But i hope that both can be negotiated. I think when people come to the table in good faith you can make it happen. Bill it is lovely in the capitol this time of year. I would rather be somewhere else. Bill a vote in alabama with roy moore. Al franken in two hours will make an announcement about his future on the floor of the senate. What is your reflection on how this is hitting washington now . Its hitting washington just like it is hitting business and entertainment and every area of life. And its a wakeup call for all of us. We have to address these issues in a different way. There has to be accountability for the American People on these issues. When youve got people who are behaving badly, theyve got to be held accountable and thats the case with both al franken and roy moore. Bill a lot of people want to know about the hush fund and slush fund and find out whats happening with that. Thank you, sir, the senator from south dakota on the hill. Sandra continuing to come out of Southern California this breaking news for you, flames stretch as far as the eye can see. Firefighters say winds could reach up to 50 miles an hour today making fighting those wildfires even harder. More on that in a moment. Bill how much did the jury know about the illegal immigrant acquitted in the kate steinle murder trial . One of the jurors speaking out for the First Time Since the verdict a week ago. We were told at the beginning of the trial that immigration were not involved in the specific charges around the issue. We are the driven. The dedicated. The overachievers. We know our best investment is in ourselves. We dont take no for an answer. We fight for what we want. Even for the things that were once a given. Going to college. Buying a home. And not being in debt for it for the rest of our lives. But were only as strong as our community. Who inspires and pushes us to go further than we could ever go alone. Sofi. Get there sooner. December 7th, 1941, a date which will live in infamy. United states of america was suddenly and deliberately attacked. Bill infamy indeed. American flags at half staff today marking 76 years since the attack on pearl harbor. 2400 americans lost their lives when japan launched a surprise attack on a navy base in hawaii. There will be a proclamation signing today. Those attending army and Navy Veterans across the country and several will be in their 90s when they step into the oval office today. Sandra hard to believe 76 years ago. Bill well watch for that later today. Quite a picture. Sandra were watching the California Wildfires in the grips of their worst wildfire season in years. Now unprecedented winds could undo all the ground gained by firefighters there. Santa ana wind gusts could hit hurricane speeds were told topping 80 miles an hour in some areas today. Fanning flames and growing three fires even faster. That prompting an alert to millions from Santa Barbara all the way to san diego. Nearly 200 homes have already burned. Thousands remain out of their homes. It is a story well be following now and throughout the day. And here is what the fires look like from space. An unbelievable shot there. Bill, it is difficult to wrap your mind around the vastness of these fires. The thing that strikes me during these wildfires watching for months up and down the west coast is how quickly they start and consume these areas. If you go back to the satellite image there at the bottom of the screen were told that is cloud cover but just above that is the east the winds of santa ana come from the east northeast. It is blowing the smoke into the Pacific Ocean and you get 50 mileanhour winds inland. Sandra watching these personal stories coming out of the fires. They go to bed at night and fire at the end of their street and running out with garden hoses to stop it. Bill tremendous loss. Back on the hill. About to see the next f. B. I. Director in that room for a hearing, Christopher Wray will testify for the House Judiciary Committee at a critical moment for the Agency Looking to restore faith in his bureau. Well bring it to you live when it begins. Al franken will be on the floor in the senate an hour 30 minutes from now. Allies on him and his future as he faces enormous pressure from inside the Democratic Caucus in the senate. All that is coming up. D ever . Hearthealthy california walnuts. The best simple veggie dish ever . California walnuts. The best simple dinner ever . Great tasting, hearthealthy california walnuts. So simple, so good. Get the recipes at walnuts. Org. Sandra big morning. The f. B. I. On the hot seat. House Judiciary Committee getting ready to grill director Christopher Wray about reports of political bias within the bureau against President Trump amid growing accusations of a double standard when it came to investigating Hillary Clinton. Welcome to a new hour of americas newsroom, im sandra smith. Bill what will we get from this hearing, right . A lot of tension and a lot of questions. Sandra you dont know yet. Big morning. Bill this hearing could get contentious. Republicans are raising new concerns about the very integrity of the agency. The president is doing that this week as well not to mention the russia matter, trey gowdy last hour saying congress is well within its rights in the search for answers today. Congress should not have to fight with the f. B. I. To get information we are entitled to and not threaten contempt of congress. I dont want that drama floor fight. I want the information were entitled to to do our jobs and shouldnt have to fight with the department of justice to access that information. Sandra steven hayes is editor and chief of the weekly standard. A big job for us at this moment. That could begin at any moment. Christopher wray is going to be getting seated shortly. Could you set this up for us . There is huge expectations coming out of this hearing this morning, steven. And Big Questions about that double standard that republicans say exist and the treatment of President Trump and his Mueller Investigation and how Hillary Clinton was treated with hers. We should expect a contentious hearing. This is Donald Trumps pick to lead the f. B. I. The president has been critical in recent days of the f. B. I. Saying its reputation was in tatters and you have democrats who want answers about the russia investigation and what is happening there. You can expect that Christopher Wray will be taking incoming from both republicans and democrats as this thing moves forward today. Sandra trey gowdy was on last hour on americas newsroom. He was basically saying, steven, that Christopher Wray has a huge job to do and really going to be grilled with a lot of questions as you said from democrats as well as republicans about restoring the trust of the American People when it comes to the integrity of the f. B. I. He does, i agree with trey gowdy. The one way he could begin to restore trust is through transparency. Gowdy made an important point in the clip that we just played and in his interview earlier today that the f. B. I. Hasnt been forthcoming with document requests from congress. This has been through not just with respect to the russia investigation but really going back to previous investigations into the Hillary Clinton email investigation before it. Thats a problem. People need to see what is happening to the extent that its possible without compromising the integrity of these investigations. When Something Like this happens, when there are revelations about Text Messages that may suggest bias, it is important that the f. B. I. Not only deal with it which appears to have happened in this case, but also to explain what has happened. It is not necessarily the case that because somebody has sent Text Messages that are proHillary Clinton or antidonald trump that the investigation is ruined but it also, i think, is important for the f. B. I. To explain why it took the actions that it did and whether there is this double standard that certainly on the surface there appears to be. Sandra based on what we may learn in the next few moments in that room on capitol hill, what could all of this mean for the Hillary Clinton investigation, steven . I dont know that it has as much impact on the Hillary Clinton investigation as much as the perception of the russia investigation. If youve seen reported on peter strzok he was involved in the interrogations of top Hillary Clinton aides, interrogations where they appeared to have misled the f. B. I. But were not punished for it. We also know by a number of different reports that he is responsible for changing the language in the statement that f. B. I. Director then f. B. I. Director james comey game which downgraded the language and made it not consistent with the statute at trey gowdy pointed out. I think it will invite new scrutiny on why exactly he took those actions. And i think this is the potential problem for peter strzok and for the f. B. I. Its one thing to send Text Messages privately to a girlfriend indicating bias in one direction or another but thats not necessarily dispositive or demonstrative of an overall bias or inability to do your job. Andy mccarthy has an article explaining why thats the case. But when you have public actions or professional actions that appear consistent with the bias expressed in those private messages, then i think you really do have questions about the integrity of the investigation and the double standard that seem to be on display here. Sandra gowdy also suggested that peter strzok may only be the beginning. He may clearly not be the only one here. One suspects that trey gowdy wasnt speculating idly when he said those things. We need to learn more. If there are more cases of this, you mentioned earlier wiseman and the email he sent with respect to sally yates decision on the travel ban. Again, you cant isolate single messages and draw vast conclusions about a biased investigation because of them. If there appears to be a pattern or if these individual private messages are reconfirmed by professional actions, i think then you do have some additional problems that need to be addressed in the forefront in a transparent way by the f. B. I. Director. Sandra Newt Gingrich said the f. B. I. Became corrupted. This isnt an occasional mistake. This was covering up for the next president so they thought. Steven, there could be potentially as you can see right now folks are entering the room, chris wray set to begin testifying at any moment. That hearing will be underway in the next few minutes. Steven, can you set this up for us . It sounds like you are predicting fireworks. I think there will be fireworks. I expect the questions will focus on the issues that you and i have been discussing today. The russia investigation, the Hillary Clinton email investigation, the apparent double standards between the two. The seriousness of lying to the f. B. I. There are also some serious policy matters that i expect will come up in the course of the hearing today. The potential reauthorization of the 702 program which many intelligence officials regard as the most important tool in listening in on our terrorist enemies. There are other policy issues that i think will get some time, one hopes that the debates over these investigations and the need for clarity on what exactly happened with the f. B. I. Doesnt overwhelm the need for the discussion about the important policies that Christopher Wray is in charge of. Sandra he has been seated now, as you can see the live shot there on capitol hill. This should be beginning at any moment. We are getting some ideas of the questions that lawmakers will be throwing his way. Steven hayes, if you can predict what is the first question going to be . Well, the first question i would expect well hear setup from the chairman and Ranking Member and dive right into the alleged double standards and the integrity of the f. B. I. Sandra it will be quite a morning on capitol hill. Democrats have a lot of questions, republicans have a lot of questions and it is coming in a week where a group of republican lawmakers within the House Judiciary Committee, they want to know about the double standard that they say exists between the treatment of donald trump and this Mueller Probe and the way Hillary Clinton was treated during her investigation. This is really a big morning, steven hayes, where we could potentially learn a lot. We could. Lets not raise expectations too much. This is, after all, congress. I think were far more likely to hear members of congress chest beating and giving many speeches designed to make them look good rather than actually trying to elicit facts from the witness. Thats too bad if that what happens. I hope we can learn some things and that Christopher Wray will answer the questions in a forthright way. Sandra he could sit and calm concerns of bias at the f. B. I. , right . He has that potential. If there is context that he can provide as to what weve seen reported publicly that allows people to better understand what has happened, that could be tremendously valuable. On the other hand, if it is the case as trey gowdy suggested there are more of these kinds of incidents, Christopher Wray might do well to get out in front of those and divulge those. Let me tell you what we know and let me tell you what ive learned. Ive had these problems. Weve dealt with them quickly. Peter strzok is no longer on the investigation. He is doing hr for the f. B. I. When we have these problems we address them quickly and try to solve them. It is important that the f. B. I. Proceed with not only integrity in fact but the perception of integrity. Sandra as you can see chairman good lot is making Opening Statements. We will be listening for that. As we have heard from republican lawmakers this week, how tarnished is the Mueller Probe at this point . I would say there are serious questions about the integrity of the probe. But i dont believe that this is necessarily a witch hunt. You remember the same people who are now trashing bob mueller, including Newt Gingrich, were speaking to bob muellers integrity when he was named special counsel. I think bob mueller is a man of integrity. I havent always agreed with his decisions particularly back in the Bush Administration but virtually everybody who worked with him and knows him sees him as a man of integrity. He should answer these questions. Im worried or troubled by the fact that the f. B. I. Didnt provide the documentation requested by congress in a transparent way and to do so quickly. Christopher wray should have to answer for that. As far as the investigation goes, i think bob mueller is a man of integrity and should be allowed to do his job. Sandra the house judiciary hearing has begun. F. B. I. Director Christopher Wray, well hear from his shortly, steven hayes, thank you. Bill thats one big story on the hill. The other big story happens 90 minutes from now. Al franken will make a statement about his own future on the floor of the senate at 11 45 eastern time. Were watching for that. Back to the hearing in a moment. Christopher wray sworn in on the second of august, took over for James Comey Fired by the president back in may. Ray is described as low key. His demeanor and work, keep calm and tackle hard. The Ranking Members Opening Statement now. Well get to Christopher Wray after a quick commercial break. Whoooo. Looking for a hotel that fits. Your budget . Tripadvisor now searches over. 200 sites to find you the. Hotel you want at the lowest price. Grazi, gino find a price that fits. Tripadvisor. 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The reason his presence is significant now is because john conyers was the lead democrat on this committee up until two days ago before he stepped down. So when this begins and chris wray starts speaking well bring that to you live. A lot of questions on the line coming up on all that. Stand by. Sandra senator al franken about to make a Political Announcement on his future after there are calls for his resignation. More than two dozen Senate Democrats are calling on franken to quit. Jessica tarlov is a Fox News Contributor. Kelly Jane Torrance is managing editor of the weekly standard. What do you expect will be happening on the senate floor at 11 45 . I expect a resignation. He pushed back last night when it was reported he would resign and say he was still discussing it with his family. I think his position has become untenable with the colleagues. Not with the voters of minnesota which is important to mention here. But i dont see how he could really be a productive member of the senate at this moment. I think democrats really want to say that they have taken the high ground with those in our party who have been accused of Sexual Assault and put that all on the republicans in the special election next tuesday in alabama comes up. Sandra kelly jane, what changed yesterday was mounting calls from female colleagues of al frankens for him to step down. Yeah, its quite amazing how much this changed within the Democratic Party in the last 19 years, isnt it . It was sort of the floodgates opened and Kristin Gillibrand led the charge and so many women agreed you need to step down. Finally after they made the call, some male democrats finally added their voices to the chorus. Sandra it makes you wonder if indeed the announcement is that he is stepping down. We do not know that yet. But jessica, if that is the case and this following john conyers departure what does it mean for roy moore . I think it should mean that roy moore is in a lot more trouble than he is. Unfortunately from looking at the polling and the sentiment of alabama voters most notably 71 of Republican Voters in alabama dont believe the allegations. I think he is heading to the senate. Mitch mcconnell made it clear there will be an immediate ethics investigation. That takes time and well see if Corey Gardner and folks who said to expel them would go along with that. Democrats would be willing to. If he takes the seat they have a republican appointee coming. They have managed to say that even by backing an alleged child molester. It will be up to governor dayton to name a successor. Al frankens office saying it wasnt the case that he was resigning last night. Thats when we learned he would make this announcement or speech today. He is scheduled to deliver a speech from the senate floor at 11 45 a. M. Eastern. Its striking how differently republicans and democrats are handling Sexual Harassment claims against their own. Democrats are taking a very swift action. Maybe not as swift as some of us would like but you had nancy pelosi the most powerful woman in congress on the democratic side calling for john conyers to step down. He was very reluctant. Al franken is reluctant. With so many people doing so he really doesnt have a choice. Little wondering if jessica is right about what happens if roy moore gets in. It seems like republicans are backtracking. Mitch mcconnell said he didnt think roy moore was fit to be in the senate. As soon as donald trump made his endorsement of roy moore he changed his tune. And now sending money to secure the seat. Maybe theyre hoping it wont end up being roy moore but certainly the president s backing of it was troubling for i of us. Sandra i want to finish up talking about Christopher Wray. He is seated and the hearing has begun. Were waiting for him to make his initial statement. He issued a memo to employees to start off this week. He was inspired by example after example of professionalism and dedication to justice demonstrated around the bureau. It is truly an honor to represent you. He is in the hot seat today as well as the f. B. I. As a whole. Expected to face a grilling from these lawmakers who have a lot of questions over what has been going on there, jessica. Absolutely. I think that from his memo is very clear how highly he thinks of jim comey and that other people across the bureau have and weve seen lots of support that way. In the hot seat theyll want to talk about the russia investigation and talk about Hillary Clinton and the republicans will want to talk about Hillary Clinton and the f. B. I. Investigation. Sandra they all want to talk about all of it. He was approved by the senate Judiciary Committee in july. President trump called wray a qualified individual in a june statement. Your final thoughts. He seems to be a professional doing a great job but you have to stay with that memo he seems to be undercutting claims that some of the people in the f. B. I. Havent acted with the utmost professionalism and wants to defend the good people and the majority of f. B. I. Agents are good people and do their job well. He has to he has to admit when some of his employees have done wrong and take swift action. Sandra well see how that goes in moments. Thanks to both of you for joining us. I think we are going to go ahead. Bill nadler just completed his statement here. Lets see if Christopher Wray begins here. You had the president two days ago talk about the f. B. I. Being in tatters. Trey gowdy did not knock that down in his appearance with us an hour ago. We have the questions about changing the wording during the Hillary Clinton email investigation to extremely careless which many have suggested was a downgrade for possible charge against her and then you had donald trump junior in front of the House Intelligence Committee, Different Committee now yesterday for 10 hours talking about a 20minute meeting with russians in trump tower from june of 2016. So how much of that comes in todays questioning and conversation we wait to see. Sandra remember the president set up for the hearing today. He tweeted after years of comey with his phony and dishonest clinton investigation and more running the f. B. I. Its reputation is in tatters, worst in history. He tweeted this on sunday and said but fear not. We will bring it back to greatness. And the president interviewed a lot of people for this position, former prosecutors, Law Enforcement officials and this was his man, Christopher Wray. Bill a lot of people not familiar with him. He has only been on the job for four most took own for comey. Wray was sworn in august 2. He stood and get sworn in in the committee. Lets drop in. My first opportunity to appear before this committee. And i look forward to our discussion. Let me start by saying that it is for me the honor of a lifetime to be here representing the men and women of the f. B. I. There is no finer institution than the f. B. I. And no finer people than the men and women who work there and are its very beating heart. Almost 37,000 men and women with a fierce commitment to protecting the American People and upholding the rule of law. In all 50 states and in about 80 countries around the world. Men and women who face the darkest that life has to offer with unyielding integrity and honesty and dedication. And i am both humbled and inspired to be back in Public Service working alongside them. I want to consider the serious challenges were facing and remember the millions of people were protecting. On the National Security front, we confront individuals who want to harm the United States in whatever way they can. Terrorists hell bent on striking us with ieds, vehicles, guns, knives. For example, as we speak, the bureau has about 1,000 active isis investigations in all 50 states. We have nation states actively seeking our technology, our military secrets, our research and development to build their own economic prowess and tear ours down. Cyber criminals who are using sophisticated means to infiltrate our systems and steal every piece of data they can get their hands on. These threats are real, they are many and a grave threat to all americans. But for the people we serve, these are not the threats that they encounter the most in their everyday lives. Threats like Violent Crime and the National Opioid epidemic impact everyday people trying to lead everyday lives. They dont want to have to worry about a terrorist driving a truck down a busy walkway. They dont want to worry about an active shooter opening fire on a crowded public gathering. And they certainly dont want to worry about whether their kids are safe from gangs and drug dealers and predators. We all need to be aware of the world around us and of the threats we face. But we in the f. B. I. Are trying to do everything we can to make sure that the American People can go about living their lives while we focus on trying to keep them safe. I would like to highlight just a couple recent investigations that illustrate just a small, small part of our Work Together with our Law Enforcement partners and our colleagues in the Justice Department. In october, through operation crosscountry, which the f. B. I. Conducted in 44 states and the District Of Columbia we arrested 120 sex traffickers and recovered 84 sexually exploited juveniles including a 3monthold girl and her 5yearold sister who were recovered from a family friend trying to sell them for sex for 600. And through our top ten most wanted fugitives program, we have apprehended in the last couple years 10 of the most particularly dangerous offenders. In august, late august, we were able to work with our mexican counterparts to capture a gang member charged with first degree murder for beating, then shooting, and then setting on fire a 15yearold boy in illinois who refused to show a gang sign. Then earlier this year the pressure of being added to our top ten list let another fugitive to turn himself in to f. B. I. Agents in texas for the 1983 murder of a young woman. For 33 years, that little girl now all grown up had hoped and prayed for his arrest. And he was finally captured on her birthday. Cold comfort, i suspect, but we hope that his capture provides some measure of piece and justice to her. The work that we do is not easy, to put it mildly, but the f. B. I. Is mission focused and passionate about the work we do. We are determined to be the very best at protecting the American People and upholding the rule of law and i for one could not be more proud to be part of it. I want to thank you, this committee, for your support. We could not do what we do without the funding that you all help us secure, without the investigative tools and authorities that you granted us, including as you noted, mr. Chairman, section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act which is at risk and set to expire very soon. We need every tool and every authority weve got to keep people safe and to pursue justice. As always, we are committed to using those authorities lawfully and appropriately for the good and protection of the American People. So thank you for having me here today. And i look forward to your questions. Thank you, director wray, will i begin by recognizing myself with a question. As director im sure youre aware of the recent media reports indicating that peter strzok, a special agent at the f. B. I. , changed the words grossly negligent to extremely careless in former director comeys statement closing the clinton investigation. Are you aware of that . I have heard some of the same information you have. Do you know by chance what the criminal intent standard is under the act. I believe its gross negligence. Would it be accurate to say that a senior f. B. I. Official changed the wording of the directors statement to ensure that secretary clinton was not liable under thes uponiage act . As you may know the handling of the investigation into secretary clinton is currently the subject of an outside independent investigation by the Inspector General and wouldnt be appropriate for me to speculate what the Inspector General will or will not find. That is probably appropriate but its not inappropriate to ask you about a legal conclusion about a standard in the law that was changed in a statement that your predecessor put out as a justification for closing the investigation of the former secretary of state. As i said i believe the standard is gross negligence. I leave it to others to conclude whether extremely careless and gross negligence are the same thing. But i will say the particulars of the investigation and the decisions were made and whether or not it was handled appropriately is, as i think it should be, the subject of an outside independent investigation by the Inspector General and i look forward to his findings as im sure the committee does as well. In july of 2016 the state department revealed that former secretary of state Hillary Clinton exchanged on her unsecured private server nearly two dozen top secret emails with three state department officials. The classification top secret means in part the unauthorized disclosure of which reasonably could be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to National Security. Can you explain to the American People how the f. B. I. Could not be investigating actions taken by individuals like those named in 2016 jacob sullivan, cheryl mills, william burns, that threatened grave damage to the National Security . As i said, mr. Chairman, the handling of the investigation or whether or not in particular whether or not decisions made in that investigation were the product of any improper considerations is precisely what the outside independent Inspector General is investigating. When we get his findings i will look and see what appropriate action we can take at the f. B. I. In response to that. Can anyone on this committee set up a private server now and conduct classified business on it since not a Single Person has been prosecuted or held accountable for the clinton email investigation . No. Thank you. Director wray, what are you doing to ensure that the top ranks of the federal bureau of investigation are cleared of individuals who are tainted by bias or those who have exhibited indiscretion by failing to demonstrate the integrity americans expect from their top Law Enforcement officials . Well, the first thing im doing is respecting the outside independent investigations that are underway. My preference is to be one of these people who is not an act first and ask questions later kind of guy but an ask questions first and then act kind of guy. So i think these matters are being looked at as they should be by somebody outside the f. B. I. And when those findings come to me, i will take appropriate action if necessary. In the meantime, i am emphasizing in every audience i can inside the bureau that our decisions need to be made based on nothing other than the facts and the law and our rules and our processes and our core values and not based on any Political Considerations by any side of the aisle. Thank you. Does the f. B. I. Obtain a warrant before accessing and reading americans email . That depends on the situation, but yes. So can you explain why you obtain a criminal search warrant before reading an email of someone under investigation for a crime . Can you repeat the question . Can you explain why you obtain a criminal search warrant before reading an email of someone in the situations where a search warrant is required, of course under the Fourth Amendment there are plenty of situations where a search warrant is not required. There are all sorts of aspects to the Fourth Amendment. But in those situations where we seek a warrant it is because the Fourth Amendment requires it. Section 702 as you and i both noted is up for renewal within a few weeks. Its a critical National Security tool that must be reauthorized. You and i agree on that as well. But it is just that, a National Security tool, not a criminal tool. Is it reasonable when accessing content that shows evidence of a routine crime and is located in the f. B. I. s 702 database that agents should obtain some process as is required in criminal cases . Mr. Chairman, i have appreciated our discussions on section 702. My own view is that section 702 as currently drafted, which is the view shared by the courts that have looked at the question, is fully constitutional and lawful and i would say to you that our handling of querying of the information in the 702 database is querying of information that is already lawfully and constitution nallly in the f. B. I. s possession and most useful at the earliest stages when information is coming in in fragments and the bureau is trying to make assessments of what do we have. Is this a real threat . Where is this going . I would implore the committee and the congress not to begin rebuilding the wall that existed before 9 11. My time is expired but i will add we share that concern as well and why we have drawn a clear distinction between National Security and solving domestic crimes. And when it comes to the query, we allow that to move forward but when you then find there is something related to the investigation of a domestic crime, then you should go ahead and get a search warrant. We have protected the f. B. I. s ability to access that database with a query but then if you are going to take it further and read the contents of the emails go right ahead because you may be stopping a terrorist attack for National Security. If youre solving a domestic crime, whatever it might be, then i think you need to respect the Civil Liberties of american citizens and get a warrant. I recognize the gentleman from new york mr. Nadler. I totally agree with the chairman in his observations on 702 and the distinctions we made in our bill between National Security and Counter Intelligence operations and investigations on domestic crimes on the other where you should get a warrant where you normally need a warrant. I would like to ask you for your help putting the events of the last few days into context. Set the stage over the summer an interview with the New York Times President Trump stated quote when nixon came along out of courtesy the f. B. I. Started reporting to the department of justice. The f. B. I. Person really reports directly to the president of the United States, close quote. Director wray, you have one direct report to the executive branch. To whom do you directly report. I directly report to the Deputy Attorney general who reports to the attorney general. Has President Trump asked you to sidestep the change of command and report directly to him . No. Also over the summer former director comey testified that during a private dinner President Trump told him quote i need loyalty. I expect loyalty. Has President Trump ever asked you for loyalty . I have never been asked by the president to take any kind of loyalty oath. My loyalty is to the constitution and the laws of this country and to the good men and people of america. Thank you. Last week former National Security advisor Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to one felony counts of lying to the f. B. I. About conversations he had with the russian ambassador. I would like to put President Trumps initial twitter reaction up on the screen and well read it. I will simply say he claims to have known that general flynn committed a crime at the time general flynn was fired. There is some controversy as to whether the president wrote the tweet. It doesnt matter who wrote it given the department of justices position that these tweets are official statements of the president of the United States. Close quote a. Few clarifying questions, mr. Director. In your experience with the department of justice, have you ever prosecuted a case involving a charge of obstruction of justice . Yes. Sections 1505 and 1512 of title 18 make it a crime if someone obstructs, influences or impedes any official proceeding. What does it mean to corruptly obstruct, influence or impede an official proceeding . Well, congressman, that would require me to get into a legal discussion and it has been a while since ive looked at the case law on the subject. I do know having somebody who has been a line prosecutor and a senior Justice Department official and a defense attorney that sometimes the language of that statute can be trickier than folks first see. Im glad you respect the fact i only have five minutes. Does obstruction of justice require specific intent . Does a prosecutor have the establish the defendant had knowledge of the proceeding and intended to obstruct it . Sitting here right now i dont remember the specifics what the intent requirement is. Okay. So you cant say does it matter that a suspect has knowledge of a crime when he tries to wave off criminal investigators . If a subject has knowledge of a crime and plans to wave off criminal investigators is that obstruction of justice . The defendants knowledge, state of mind and intent is critical. Later that day the president tweeted this claim that well put up there. And in effect he accuses former director comey of giving false testimony. Mr. Comey testified that President Trump urged him to be lenient with Michael Flynn where he quoted the president saying i hope you can let this go. Multiple appearances before Congress Attorney general sessions appears to have corroborated both the fact of the meeting and the gist of the conversation between the president and director comey. Director wray, do you have any reason to doubt the testimony of director comey or attorney general sessions on this point . Congressman, the questions you are asking go directly to what special counsel mueller is investigating and i dont think it would be appropriate for me to be weighing in on that in this setting. You dont think you can say whether you have reason to doubt the veracity of the statement because it might be under investigation . The question you are asking me and i appreciate the reasons for the question but the questions youre asking me would be asking me to weigh in on witnesses in the course of an investigation thats ongoing and i dont think its appropriate for me to do. At your confirmation hearing you testified that you would consider any attempt any effort to tamper with director muellers investigation unacceptable and inappropriate. It would need to be dealt with appropriately. Since your confirmation has the president ever contacted you or anybody else at the white house with muellers investigation . No. Bill my final question is the president s tirade ended with a final tweet where he says your reputation is in tatters. Director wray, its up there. We have heard other veterans of the f. B. I. And the department of justice push back against this attack on the reputation of the f. B. I. At the time we havent heard from you. With the time i have left will you respond to this tweet by the president. Is the f. B. I. s reputation in tatters . May i have time to answer this question . Its something that matters to me a great deal. There is no shortage of opinions out there. What i can tell you is that the f. B. I. That i see is tens of thousands of agents and analysts and staff working their tails off to keep americans safe from the next terrorist attack, gang violence, child predators, spies from russia, north korea and iran. The f. B. I. That i see is tens of thousands of brave men and women working as hard as they can to keep people that they will never know safe from harm. And the f. B. I. That i see is reflected in folks like the new class of agents that i swore in at quantico two days ago. Hard charging, High Integrity people. People like the Hostage Rescue Team and swat teams that we send out into all sorts of danger with almost no notice. The f. B. I. That i see is people decent people committed to professionalism and respect. The f. B. I. That i see is respected and appreciated by our partners in federal, state, and local Law Enforcement, in the intelligence community, by our foreign counterparts both Law Enforcement and National Security and Something Like 200 countries around the globe. Thats the f. B. I. That i see. Now do we make mistakes . You bet we make mistakes just like everybody who is human makes mistakes. When we make mistakes there are independent processes like that of the outside Inspector General that will drive and dive deep into the facts surrounding those mistakes and when that independent fact finding is complete, we will hold our folks accountable if thats appropriate. Very fine. Thank you very much. You bet. The chair recognizes mr. Shabbat. You mentioned that the Inspector General is investigating matters related for example to the clinton email server scandal, etc. But isnt it a fact that the i. G. Does not have prosecutorial powers . Well, under certain circumstances the Inspector General works with prosecutors to bring criminal charges. What about in this case . Its under review at the moment looking into the facts surrounding all those decisions. The bottom i. G. Is investigating the matter but has no prosecutorial powers at this time. The Inspector General does not himself have prosecutorial power, yes. The president of the United States as the chairman mentioned expressed the opinion that the f. B. I. s reputation was quote in tatters unquote. Now, as someone who sat on this committee, the Judiciary Committee that has oversight of the Justice Department and the f. B. I. Over 20 years now, such a statement is at least at first shocking but when you look at a few facts, it is understandable why the president might make such a statement. A former head of the f. B. I. Robert mueller is put in charge of an important investigation and who does he pick to be on his team . You would want people who are experienced and smart and most importantly unbiased. Because whatever you do, the result is going to be second guessed, one side or the other will be dissatisfied, critical. Above all things they have to at least appear to be fair and unbiased. He picked 16 attorneys, nine of the 16. More than half have given money to the Obama Campaign or the Clinton Campaign or both. And nobody has given a cent for donald trump or his campaign. Does that show a lack of bias . Does it show fairness . I think the American People can decide that for themselves and perhaps even more shocking we recently learned that one of those supposedly unbiased investigators on the mueller team was a guy named peter strzok and he was sending out antitrump, proclinton messages so he ultimately got canned from the investigation. How did this guy get on your supposedly unbiased team in the first place when you consider that this is the same guy that had a key position investigating the Hillary Clinton email server scandal and apparently had a hand in altering the f. B. I. s conclusion that clinton was grossly negligent down to extremely careless so she could escape prosecution and stay in the race against donald trump . And now we learn that the number two guy on muellers team, andrew wiseman, is just as biased as strzok. He made an antitrump communication to sally yates. The depths of this antitrump bias on the mueller team goes on and on and is absolutely shocking. I know all this took place before you took the helm at the f. B. I. But none other than the president of the United States has said that an organization that most americans, including myself, hold in the highest esteem, the f. B. I. , is in tatters. What can you do what will you do to restore confidence in the premier Law Enforcement agency in the world . I appreciate the question and the reason for the question. It goes to the heart of whether or not the bureau is following its processes and the rules and the guidelines and adhering to the independence and objectivity and professionalism we have all come to expect and respect from the f. B. I. And i think the best way that i can validate the trust of the American People in the f. B. I. Is to ensure we bring that same level of professionalism and integrity and objectivity and adherence to process in everything we do. As i said at the beginning, i think it is important that we not jump first and ask questions later. So the second thing i think can be done is when there are fair questions to be asked about things like whether or not some of the decisions made in the 2016 investigation were handled appropriately or were subject or based on any kind of improper considerations, rather than have the f. B. I. Investigate itself, having an outside Inspector General do the investigation and report to all of us on the findings i think is one of the best things i can do and then based on that information, i wont hesitate to take appropriate action based on what it is he finds. Im almost out of time. Would you as f. B. I. Director, for example, ever permit associates of someone under investigation who themselves could also be under investigation to sit in an interview with the accused . Well, i will say this. Having been, as i said to congressman nadler both a line prosecutor and a Justice Department official but also a defense attorney, thats not my experience as the normal practice. Im also, however, reluctant to ever answer questions as you can appreciate with a hype thet call about whether i would ever do something. Every investigation is subject to its own unique circumstances. Thats exactly what happened in the socalled investigation of Hillary Clinton. Im out of time. The chair recognizes the woman from california. Thank you, mr. Chairman and mr. Director for being here today and thanks to you for your leadership of this agency and to the men and women who work so hard to protect our country and to serve the United States. We all appreciate it, even though we might have a few questions. My question my first question has to do with cybersecurity. There is a rapidly growing threat of cyberattacks at all levels, federal, state, local, business, personal level. And i was really concerned to learn in november of a report highlighting the f. B. I. s failure to notify multiple government officials that they were the target of the russian hacking campaign. Now, at least according to this report 500 people were targeted in the past year including officials as high profile as the former head of the Defense Intelligence agency, the former head of the air force intelligence. Many of these people still had security clearances or worked for the government. I would like to know the f. B. I. , as i understand it, correct me if im wrong, of these efforts for at least a year but i am advised and informed only two of the targets. Can you explain why these individuals had to learn from the Associated Press that they were targets of an aggressive russian hacking effort and do we know if any classified information was stolen or any members of congress or Congressional Staff a target . And what mechanisms or Additional Resources need to be put in place so that targeted officials know they are at risk when there is a foreign operation such as this . Congresswoman, i think im not comfortable trying to discuss this specific victim engagement in a particular investigation, at least in this setting. But i think what i can tell you which might be helpful in response is that we have very well established criteria and policies and procedures for questions of victim notification in cyber matters. And the questions i probably cant repeat them to you verbatim. The questions go to things like number one, can we identify the victim . Which in a lot of cases is harder than you might think. Number two, is the information that we have at that point in the investigation actionable for the victim . Is there something they can do with it . Could sharing the information actually protect somebody prevent a loss, etc. We also look at whether or not sharing the information at the time in question would potentially come compromise and existing investigation and the last point i would make is that when you have a large number of people it is much easier for us to provide victim notification when we have official or government or Corporate Accounts where we can contact the chief Information Security officer and then they can communicate to all the people who are on that server. You talk about gmail accounts and things like that it gets harder. A lot of peoples gmail addresses dont have i assume what you are describing is the Current Practice when the Democratic National committee was hacked by the russians, the f. B. I. Contacted an intern, they never contacted the chairman of the dnc, she found out months later. So hopefully those types of procedures have been revised. Do you know that . I think the procedures themselves remain the same and the procedures themselves, i think, are pretty sound. The question of if you think about what they are. They are questions that the investigators have to ask in each victim notification context. Let me go. When we had the attorney general here recently, there is an ongoing effort to hack into the election system. We know that from various reports. And the attorney general said really nothing was going on. That he it is really important we havent spent enough time on it. Im paraphrasing. Im getting the sense thats true across the government. In fact, we have systems that were hacked within a half an hour by state voting systems. What is the f. B. I. Doing relative to preserving the integrity of the voting structure itself for the next election . May i answer that one . I think the f. B. I. Is focused on this subject. Its one of the things ive tried to insist on upon arriving. We have a Foreign Influence Task force that we set up that brings together both our Counter Intelligence division, our Cyber Division and our Criminal Division as well as other parts of the bureau. We are in coordination through that task force with dhs that has responsibility for a lot of the election infrastructure along with states. Were in contact with foreign partners. As you know, efforts to interfere with elections are occurring in other countries as well and so by doing that with our Close Relationships with our foreign counterparts we learn more about trade Craft Methods and things like that. So were acutely focused on looking out for signs of interference in the 2018 or 2020 elections. If i may, i know my time is up but i hope that there is an effort by the bureau to communicate with state election officers who oftentimes have been kept in the dark. The chair recognizes the congressman from california. A couple of questions. One im sure youre aware of and ill ask it as a do you agree. Its nonspecific. Do you agree that persons should not have their assets forfeited without due process and a provable link to criminal activity . Well, congressman, its been a while since i looked at the law on Asset Forfeiture. This is a constitutional. Not a statutory. I believe in the context of Asset Forfeiture we should respect the constitution its fair to say if somebody has 10,000 in their van, they have it taken from them and they have to sue to get it back even though they are never charged with a crime, that would be wrong under due process in the constitution. Again, im not trying to make this difficult but to me Asset Forfeiture questions raise all kinds of complicated case law questions about due process, etc. What i do believe due process and adherence to the constitution are incredibly important in the Asset Forfeiture context as in elsewhere. Now switching to the matter of peter strzok, and i had a long time working with your folks on the personnel side over at oversight where we oversee a lot of those things and i just want to make the record straight now that you are in addition to being the chief of the Law Enforcement standpoint and you are also the ultimate head of hr for those tens of thousands of people who are working so hard for us. Is an f. B. I. Agent allowed to have a political opinion . Yes. Is an f. B. I. Agent allowed to communicate that political opinion to their wife or even their mistress . Yes. So nothing in a text simply communicating a political opinion would be cause for firing or any other action under the ordinary rules of the f. B. I. Or any federal person, correct . I think each question would have to be based on its own circumstances. Certainly i can imagine situations always you are describing where it wouldnt be and i can imagine situations where it might be. That brings us to a situation now in which an individual is key to the question of whether or not there should be a full review of the f. B. I. s actions as to Hillary Clinton and the decision not to prosecute her since he was actively involved in that. So my question to you is, since its clear that whatever peter strzok did was sufficient to have him relieved, something that in the ordinary course of simply communicating a political opinion would not cause that, and would be inappropriate to relieve somebody simply for having a political opinion, will you make available to this committee upon the chairmans request, the ability to see any or all of those 10,000 texts sufficient to understand why this individual was dismissed and how it might be relevant to the question of the objectivity of director comeys investigation and conclusions . There are a couple parts to your question if i might. First i want to be clear that the individual in question has not been dismissed. He has been relieved from the duties he had. He was reassigned away from the special counsel investigation, which is different than disciplinary action. Second, as to the question of access to the Text Messages, we would be happy to try to work with the committee on that. I want to be sensitive that there is an active very active outside independent investigation by the Inspector General and the last thing i want to do