At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz expressed his frustration to FBI Director Chris Wray over the Bureau’s and the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) handling of the ongoing Hunter Biden investigation. Cruz accused Wray of “hiding” behind Attorney General Merrick Garland while evading questions regarding political interference in the investigation.
“Director Wray, you and I have gone round and round on this, because I understand, anytime you’re asked about this, the answer is, ‘It’s an ongoing investigation’ – of course, the investigation isn’t ongoing,” Cruz told Wray. “You’re not doing the work, you’ve got whistleblowers pointing out that you’re not doing the work, and you are hiding behind the skirts of the attorney general.”
Cruz stated that Garland had previously claimed to not have been involved with the ongoing Biden family probe, while whistleblowers have alleged he lied under oath. Cruz asked what Wray’s experience was with political interference in the investigation, to which Wray responded that wasn’t his experience.
Sen @tedcruz GOES OFF On FBI Director
"You're not doing the work and you are hiding behind the skirts of the Attorney General!"https://t.co/9fZwWuGtqu
— Mr Producer (@RichSementa) December 5, 2023
Cruz asked Wray whether DOJ investigators were allowed to probe into whether President Joe Biden was “complicit in the corruption,” which Wray referred him back to the DOJ, noting that he wasn’t “hiding behind anything.”
Cruz then asked Wray whether he had opened an investigation into whether the attorney general lied under oath to Congress and whether the attorney general obstructed justice. Wray responded he wasn’t “going to go down that road.” Cruz hit back, saying, “I know you’re not! That’s the point – nobody thinks you’ve opened an investigation because you’re not willing to. … You are simply sitting blithely by while career partisans in your agency allow it to be weaponized. You are damaging the FBI, and you are damaging the [DOJ].”
Previously in October, Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley told Wray that the FBI labeled 40 anonymous sources who gave “critical information” about the Biden family as “disinformation” in an act of “political bias.” It’s clear that Cruz is unconvinced that the FBI’s handling of the Biden family probe is free of political influence.
Today, #FBI Director Christopher Wray is testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee at the ‘Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’ hearing. Read his opening remarks here: https://t.co/OvwgRPIFhr pic.twitter.com/o38Qhsjvda
— FBI (@FBI) December 5, 2023
In the face of this scrutiny, Wray has remained non-committal, refusing to make a definitive statement regarding political interference into the investigation.