The Judiciary Committee look on the order. The chair is authorized to declare recesses of the committee at any time. We welcome everyone to todays hearing. I will begin by recognizing myself for an Opening Statement. Thank you, director wray, for appearing for your first time in front of this committee, and thank you for your service to our country and your new position. There is much to discuss today, and we look forward to your answers. The president recently tweeted that the fbi is in tatters. While some will take umbrage with President Trumps assertion, it does appear to me that, at the very least, the fbis reputation as an impartial, nonpolitical agency has been called into question recently. We cannot afford for the fbi, which has traditionally been dubbed the premier Law Enforcement agency in the world, to become tainted by politicization or the perception of a lack of evenhandedness. Questions regarding the fbis impartiality first came to light under the Obama Administration surrounding the handling of the investigation into the clinton email server scandal. You, director wray, have a unique opportunity to repair the damage of the reputation of the fbi, and we encourage you, in the strongest terms, to do so. Director comeys decision to weigh in on the fate of the investigation into the mishandling of classified emails by former secretary of state Hillary Clinton was one that brought criticism to the bureau from all sides. The fbis decision to recommend no charges against former the former secretary or anyone connected to her continues to raise serious concerns that our nations system of justice applies differently to the rich, powerful and wellconnected than to everyone else. Many on this committee have repeatedly called on attorney general sessions and Deputy Attorney general rosenstein to name a Second Special counsel to review the voluminous unresolved inconsistencies and perceived improprieties in regard to normal doj investigatory practice that arose during the clinton email investigation. Despite our request, the department has not appointed a Second Special counsel. While we still request the appointment of a Second Special counsel, we have now also opened our own joint investigation with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to review fbi and dojs handling of that investigation. The attorney general has recently committed to provide us relevant documents. I hope to hear directly from you that you will ensure your agency provides a fullsome response of the documents to enable unimpeded congressional oversight. Even more recently, reports on the bias of some of the career agents and lawyers on Current Special counsel muellers team are also deeply troubling to a system of blind and equal justice. Investigations must not be tainted by individuals imposing their own personal political opinions. We do not know the magnitude of this insider bias on mr. Muellers team, nor do we have a clear understanding of the full magnitude of bias reflected in the russia investigation and prior clinton email investigation. One thing is clear, though it is absolutely unacceptable for fbi employees to permit their own political predilections to contaminate any investigation. Even the appearance of impropriety will devastate the fbis reputation. We hope to hear from you today about an action plan for making sure this never happens again. That individuals are held accountable. And whether you plan to reevaluate prior decisions in light of the prejudice shown by officials in integral roles on past and Ongoing Investigations. Concerning substantive legislative measures, we find ourselves only weeks before a Critical Program for our National Security expires. Fisa section 702. This committee passed on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis a reauthorization of section 702 that maintains the integrity of the program while protecting cherished Civil Liberties. We ensure that the fbi is not hindered by having to obtain a warrant before performing a search for information that the agency has inside its databases. However, we also put in place protections to ensure that Law Enforcement cannot shortcut American Civil Liberties by reading americans emails without a warrant when looking for evidence of runofthemill crimes. This committees legislation struck a balance that will promote National Security and Civil Liberties. So i hope to hear from you that you will work with us to make any perfecting changes to the legislation so that section 702 can be reauthorized on time. Needless violence on the home front is also a concern for all americans who value and expect safety and security as they go about their daytoday lives. We have seen horrific violence in the past year, including the worst mass shooting in u. S. History. Violence has hit this very body. When our colleague and others were shot. We see many of our major cities stricken by daily murders and excessive violence. Is this the new normal . I am unwilling to accept that. While we have disagreements over policy for addressing this violence, we can all agree that it is essentially it is existentially important for us to understand and address the underlying causes. If we neglect this duty, we do it disservice for generations to come. Director wray, in addition to punishing individuals who have already committed criminal acts, i hope the fbi is also committed to Crime Prevention initiatives. I am interested to know what steps federal Law Enforcement is taking to address the underlying causes of violence and whether congress can offer any Additional Resources to ensure that we can faithfully say that we have done what we can to battle gratuitous violence in all of its forms. I believe that this committees criminal Justice Reform legislation will help address these problems, including helping to rehabilitate offenders so they can become productive members of society once released. Notwithstanding the question of the impartiality and independence of the fbi, i am often astounded by the efforts that the men and women of the fbi contribute on a daily basis toward keeping our country safe from foreign and domestic threats. There are many successes that never see the light of day for which the fbi cannot receive public credit due to the sensitivity of the fbis methods and operations. We are truly grateful and hope that the line agents, analysts and support staff of the fbi know that their jobs are sincerely appreciated and greatly valued. Again, director wray, thank you for appearing today, and i will now yield to the Ranking Member of the committee, the gentleman from new york, mr. Nadler, for his Opening Statement. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Welcome to the house Judiciary Committee, director wray. Earlier this week in a message to your agents and employees, you gave us your vision of what the fbi is supposed to be. Quote, we found ourselves under the microscope each and every day rightfully so. We do hard work for a living. We are entrusted with protecting the American People and upholding the constitution and laws of the United States. Because of the importance of our mission we are also entrusted with great power, and we should expect and welcome people asking tough questions about how we use that power. That goes with the job and always has. Unquote, from your statement. I appreciate that sentiment. But it cannot be a coincidence that you sent this message to your agents just hours after President Trump launched an online tantrum aimed largely at the bureau as an institution and at individual agents. Early saturday morning the president tweeted, quote, so general flynn lies to the fbi and his life destroyed while crooked hillary lies many times and nothing happens to her . Rigged system or just a double standard . Question mark. Unquote. He went on, after years of comey, with the phony and dishonest clinton investigation, running the fbi, its reputation is in tatters. Worst in history. These outbursts exemplify two key characteristics of this administration. A cheapening of our dialogue and base also and entirely political attacks against Hillary Clinton, political opponents, the department of justice and the i fear that this demeaning language has infected much of our work here on this committee. I suspect, mr. Director, that many of my republican colleagues will take a similar approach in attempting to shift the conversation away from questions they have largely ignored, like obstruction of justice, Election Security, and the rise in hate crimes. Indeed, i predict that these attacks on the fbi will grow louder and more brazen as the special counsel does his work and the walls close around the president and evidence of his obstruction and other misdeeds becomes more apparent. In this moment, director wray, your responsibility is not only to defend the bureau but to push back against the president when he is clearly wrong, both on the facts and as a matter of principle. When he says, quote, the fbi person really reports directly to the president of the United States, unquote, it is your job to tell him that the director of the fbi has reported to the attorney general since the founding of the bureau and that president s should not comment on pending cases. When he claims that you should focus on, quote, crooked hoirl, unquote instead of his closest associates or when my colleagues argue for a new special counsel to do the same it is your responsibility to remind that absence sufficient evidence of a crime there is no investigation to which a special counsel can be assigned. And when he tells you that you need to, quote, clean house, that your agents are, quote, phony and dishonest and that your, quote, reputation or the reputation of the bureau is in tatters, and, quote, the worst in history. You should do more than to send a private email to your employees. Your job then is to stand up to the president of the United States. As former acting attorney general sally yates has said, the only thing in tatters is the president s respect for the rule of law. The dedicated men and women of the fbi deserve better. Where former attorney general eric holder said, you will find integrity and honesty at fbi headquarters and not at 1600 pennsylvania avenue right now. Thomas oconnor, president of the fbis Agents Association said, the fbi continues to be the premier Law Enforcement agency in the world. Fbi agents are dedicated to their mission, suggesting otherwise is simply false, unquote. I am curious if you think their defense of the bureau is wrong or misplaced and i hope you will address the matter in your testimony today. Your job requires you to have the courage in these circumstances to stand up to the president. That responsibility is far more than a matter of politics. There are real consequences for allowing the president to continue his attacks on the fbi and to continue unchecked in this manner. For example, fbi statistics released last month show a marked increase in the rise of hate crimes in the United States. Your data indicates 6,121 hate crimes against 7615 victims last year alone. Last week about 70 of our colleagues wrote to me and to chairman goodlatte asking us to convene immediate hearings to determine what can be done to stem the tide of this vieolence. I ask that the letter i have be made a part of the record. Without objection it will be made a part of the record. Thank you. I am certain that more than one factor is to blame for this rise in violence. I cannot help but look to a president who has tacitly and sometimes explicitly created an environment that is more hostile to the most vulnerable among us. As a candidate, he denigrated women, characterized immigrants as racists and openly mocked the disabled. As president he cracked a pocahontas joke at a ceremony, honoring the contributions of native americans defending this country, circulated unverified antimuslim videos produced by farright fascist extremists in Great Britain and asked us to remember the, quote, very fine people, unquote among the racists and white nationalists at charlottesville. He even questioned the president obamas birthplace. We are looking for leaders who can supply some moral authority to lead this country. I hope you will be among them, director wray. I look forward to your testimony today. I thank the chairman. I yield back. Chair thanks the gentleman. We welcome our distinguished witness. If you will please rise, ill begin by swearing you in. Do you swear that the testimony you are about to give shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you god. Thank you very much. Let the record show the witness answered in the affirmative. Mr. Christopher wray was sworn in as the eighth director of the fbi on august 2, 2017. A new york city native, mr. Wray graduated from Yale University and subsequently earned his law degree from yale law school. He began his department of justice career in 1997 as an assistant u. S. Attorney for the Northern District of georgia. Where he prosecuted cases ranging from public corruption to gun trafficking and financial fraud. In 2001 he joined the office of the Deputy Attorney general where he served as associate Deputy Attorney general and then principal associate Deputy Attorney general. In 2003, mr. Wray was nominated by president george w. Bush to serve as assistant attorney general for the Criminal Division. At the conclusion of his tenure he was awarded the edmund j. , randolph award, the department of justices highest award for leadership and Public Service. Mr. Wray went on to practice law before returning to the Public Sector as director of the fbi. Mr. Wray, your written statement will be entered into the record in its entirety and we ask that you summarize your testimony in five minutes. Welcome. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member nadler, members of the committee, thank you for having me here today. This is 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 fbi. There is no finer institution than the fbi 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 would like to take a step back to consider the serious challenges that we are facing and to remember the millions of people that 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 i. E. D. S, vehicles, guns and knives. For example, as we speak, the bureau has about 1,000 active isis investigations in all 50 states. We have nationstates actively seeking our technology, our military secrets, our research and development, to build their own economic prowess and to tear ours down. Cyber criminals who are using sophisticated means to infiltrate our systems and steal every piece of data that they can get their hands on. These threats are real. They are many, and they are 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 fbi 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 fbi conducted in 44 states and the District Of Columbia we arrested 120 sex traf