Senator Josh Hawley put FBI Director Christopher Wray on the spot during a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing, grilling the smug bureaucrat over his “indefensible” early departure from an August oversight hearing to jet off for a vacation in the Adirondacks.
The exchange went down on Thursday when the Missouri Republican put Wray on the spot on a day when he refused to answer questions about whether FBI agents disguised as supporters of former President Donald J. Trump were inside the Capitol on January 6, 2021, confronting him about media reports that the reason for his depriving GOP senators of an opportunity to conduct oversight wasn’t for business but rather his personal trip.
“Director Wray, let me start with you if I could,” Hawley began as Mitt Romney scurried away, “I think the last time that I got to visit with you was back in August, August 4 of this year, you were at the Senate Judiciary Committee, you remember that I assume?”
“We had to cut that hearing short, we were supposed to do two rounds of questions, “you said you had to be somewhere so we cut it short, Republicans were not able to ask a second round as we had been informed we would.”
“The press reported shortly thereafter that the reason that the hearing had to be cut short is because you were flying on a Gulfstream jet for a personal vacation in the Adirondacks,” he continued. “Please tell me that’s not accurate.”
WATCH: FBI Dir Way admits to @HawleyMO he left a legally required FBI oversight hearing early to fly private on a Gulfstream jet to the Adirondacks for vacation. Wray claimed he had "other business" to attend to and couldn't stay pic.twitter.com/HgpTUgUmua
— Philip Letsou (@philipletsou) November 17, 2022
“Senator, the hearing was not cut short for my experience,” Wray replied, “We had agreed beforehand on the time and length of it and I was very surprised to find that anyone on the committee was surprised, as to how I fly, I am required, not only permitted but required to fly on an FBI plane wherever I go..”
“So you were going on vacation?” Hawley asked.
“I was, yes,” admitted the FBI boss.
“So you left a statutorily required oversight hearing in order to go on a personal vacation in the Adirondacks?” Hawley inquired.
Wray answered, “I took a flight to go visit my family as had been previously arranged in conjunction with the leadership of the committee,” as Hawley said, “no, no, no” and refreshed his memory as to the exact contest of his August remarks.
“The ranking member Chuck Grassley asked you during the hearing, ‘I assumed you must have other business,’ you said, ‘yes,’ he then said, ‘if you have a business trip, you’ve got your own plane can’t it wait awhile?,’ he then said, Chuck Grassley, ‘we only heard just half an hour ago that now you have to leave, we were going to have a 7 minute round followed by a 3 minute round, I’ve got 7 people on the aisle’ that included me, ‘who are waiting for this additional round, is there any reason we can’t accommodate them for 21 minutes?’ and you said, you had a plane to catch, you had somewhere to go and now we find out it was for vacation,” Hawley said.
After the hearing, Hawley tweeted a link to a New York Post story on how he had gotten Wray to admit to the truth.
FBI chief Christopher Wray admits ditching hearing for vacay on bureau jet https://t.co/eTVt1c5hV9 via @nypost
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) November 17, 2022
Twitter users didn’t hold back in blasting Wray’s arrogance and dishonesty.
Arrogance of the FBI is astounding!
— 2024 (@loveusa2018) November 17, 2022
Worst appointment ever. The arrogance is stunning.
— ULMP-40 (@ULM_P40) November 17, 2022
Wasn’t that an FBI jet funded for “counter-terrorism” but used for leisure trips by Wray and Garland? Most Cabinet Members don’t have government jets. Wray isn’t even Deputy Secretary rank: The DAG is one of his supervisors.
— Barton Fairfax (@BartonFairfax) November 17, 2022
Oh boy, I’m afraid for @HawleyMO after seeing this. The regime/deep state isn’t going to let that slide. Every unelected bureaucrat needs to be fired whenever we get a new president. Every single one. Start fresh. Josh has some big stones, prayers up for him.
— Scissor (@edserv123) November 17, 2022
This taxpayer funded private travel has to stop for all of these clowns. They need to be using the public transportation they try to push down our throats.
— RoadTrip (@KevinOverbay) November 17, 2022
Romney bailing before he hears questioning of his beloved deep state heroes by an actual Republican.
— Chris (@CDrisEl) November 17, 2022
The smirking Wray knows very well that he will never face accountability under the current regime and he oozes arrogance, as was evident during his words with Sen. Grassley in August.
As if any more examples are needed of why public trust in the FBI as an institution has plummeted, the director just served them up.
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Republished with permission from American Wire News Service
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