Jun 08, 2017 · Wray is a litigation partner in the Washington and Atlanta offices of King & Spaulding and chairs the special matters and government investigations practice group, which represents clients in...
Jun 07, 2017 · Currently a litigation partner at King & Spalding law firm, Wray is perhaps best known today as the lawyer who defended New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie in the so-called “Bridgegate” scandal. He represented Christie in the case in which two of the governor’s aides were convicted of plotting to shut down bridge lanes to spite a Democratic mayor who …
Jun 07, 2017 · American politician President Trump plans to nominate Christopher Wray, a former Justice Department official who served as Gov. Christie’s lawyer during the George Washington Bridge lane-closures...
Jun 07, 2017 · Jun 7, 2017. President Trump plans to nominate Christopher Wray, a former Justice Department official who served as Gov. Christie's lawyer during the George Washington Bridge lane-closures scandal, to lead the FBI. Christie told reporters last week that he first met Wray when the two served in the Bush administration.
Early Years and Legal Career. Christopher Asher Wray was born on December 17, 1966, in New York City . The son of two successful professionals – his dad, Cecil, became a partner at the Debevoise & Plimpton law firm and mom, Gilda, the senior program officer of the Charles Hayden Foundation – Wray was sent to the prestigious Phillips Academy in ...
Not long after joining the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2001 as associate deputy attorney general , Wray was thrust into the chaos that followed the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Named principal associate deputy attorney general, he oversaw legal and operational actions as the department adjusted to the demands required to combat terrorist activity.
James Comey. James Comey, who was appointed FBI director in 2013, drew scrutiny for his investigations during and after the 2016 U.S. presidential race. He was fired by President Donald Trump in 2017. (1960–) Person.
In 2004, Wray was among the group of top-level prosecutors, which included Attorney General John Ashcroft, FBI Director Robert Mueller and Deputy FBI Director James Comey, that threatened to resign over the extension of the George W. Bush administration's illegal wiretaps.
In 2014, Wray took charge of efforts to defend New Jersey Governor Chris Christie amid the scandal of "Bridgegate," in which the governor's administration allegedly closed several already crowded entrance lanes to the George Washington Bridge as part of political payback.
One of the Founding Fathers of the United States, John Jay is known as one of the writers of 'The Federalist Papers' and for being the nation's first chief justice of the Supreme Court.
At his confirmation hearing in July, Wray asserted that he would remain independent from White House influence.
Christopher Wray was one of several lawyers who represented Chris Christie during the Bridgegate proceedings.
According to NJ.com, the phone was first turned over to the Chris Christie administration’s law firm, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. The firm then returned the phone to Wray, who reportedly still has it to this day.
Before Bridgegate, Christopher Wray and Chris Christie worked together at the Department of Justice.
Chris Christie make phone calls to voters at the Monmouth County Republican Headquarters on November 2, 2009 in Freehold, New Jersey. (Getty)
Christie said at the time that he had no idea where the phone was.
Christopher Wray has been selected as Donald Trump’s pick to be the next director of the FBI.
According to the Asbury Park Press , Christie says that he and Wray worked together “a lot” during this time. This included work they did on an investigation into Bristol-Myers Squibb, a pharmaceutical company.
During his time at King & Spalding, Wray acted as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie 's personal attorney during the Bridgegate scandal.
Early life. Christopher A. Wray was born in New York City. His father, Cecil A. Wray Jr., was a graduate of Vanderbilt University and Yale Law School, and he worked as a lawyer at Debevoise & Plimpton in New York. His paternal grandfather, T. Cecil Wray, was the city manager of Brentwood, Tennessee from 1971 to 1973.
Wray argued China was trying to become the world's only superpower, supplanting the United States. On December 2, 2020, a member of then-president-elect Joe Biden 's transition team announced that if Wray was not fired or removed from his position by President Trump, then he would remain as the Director of the FBI.
In response, Wray stated "nontraditional collectors" (which he elaborated to include professors, scientists, and students) are "exploiting the very open research and development environment that we have" and consequently he viewed the risk "as not just a whole of government threat but a whole of society threat".
On February 13, 2018, in a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing focused on Chinese espionage in the United States, Senator Marco Rubio [R-FL] asked Wray about the risk posed from Chinese students in advanced science and mathematics programs. In response, Wray stated "nontraditional collectors" (which he elaborated to include professors, scientists, and students) are "exploiting the very open research and development environment that we have" and consequently he viewed the risk "as not just a whole of government threat but a whole of society threat". Representatives Judy Chu [D-CA], Ted Lieu [D-CA], and Grace Meng [D-NY] released statements criticizing Wray's response as "irresponsible generalizations" implying that all Chinese students and scholars were spies. A coalition of Asian American advocacy groups wrote an open letter to Wray asking for a dialogue "to discuss how well-intentioned public policies might nonetheless lead to troubling issues of potential bias, racial profiling, and wrongful prosecution". In a follow-up interview with NBC, Wray stood by his earlier remarks, elaborating that "To be clear, we do not open investigations based on race, or ethnicity, or national origin. But when we open investigations into economic espionage, time and time again, they keep leading back to China."
In April 2020, President Trump considered ousting Wray and replacing him with William Evanina but when Attorney General William Barr threatened to resign, Trump backed down. In May 2020, Wray ordered an internal review into possible misconduct in the FBI's investigation of Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Wray's Senate confirmation hearing commenced on July 12, 2017. Among other testimony, when asked if he believed that the investigation into Russian 2016 election interference and possible links to Trump's campaign is a "witch hunt", he stated that he did not.
Christopher Asher Wray grew up in Manhattan, according to a profile in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a prep school kid who went to Yale, where he earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy. It was there where he met Helen Howell, a southern debutante from Atlanta, who he married after graduation.
A spokesman for Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said the senator did not know Wray and would reserve judgment, adding that despite the president's tweet, the Senate has yet to receive a formal nomination.