Christopher Wray

CHRISTOPHER WRAY 

Wray is a graduate of Yale University and Yale Law School where he was the executive editor of the Yale Law Review. In 1997, he became an assistant US Attorney in Georgia. In 2001, he then became an Associate Attorney General for the Justice Department. In 2003, he was nominated by President Bush to be an Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Criminal Division. He was unanimously confirmed by the senate and held that position, one supervised by James Comey, from 2003-2005. In 2005, he received the Department's highest award for public service and leadership, the Edmund J. Randolph Award. 

In 2005, Wray joined the law firm King and Spalding as a litigation partner, working both in Atlanta and D.C. 

In the Know

While at King and Spalding, Wray represented New Jersey Governor Christ Christie in the Bridgegate scandal. During his time with the Justice Department, he oversaw white collar criminial investigations, notably managing the Enron task force that ultimately resulting in several high-profile convictions. Wray also played an important role after 9/11, assisting the DOJ in determining how they would respond to the continued threat of terrorism. 

Wray has also worked closely with Robert Mueller, who is now special counsel investigating potential Russian ties to the Trump campaign and who will be overseeing James Comey's Senate testimony on June 8. 

Wray also has a reputation as being a harsh prosecutor of white collar crime, an interesting fact considering Trump's political power is based off of his family's corporation, not government experience. 

2017 Headlines

On June 7, 2017, Donald Trump announced that he was nominating Wray to be the new head of the F.B.I. Any major concerns about this? Well, no, except for the fact that Trump picked him. 

Fun Fact

Not only did Wray work closely with Comey and Mueller, in 2004, when Comey and Mueller threatened to quit if the NSA Terrorist Surveillance Program (see STELLAR WIND program under Mueller's profile) continued domestic surveillance without a warrant, Wray was ready to jump ship as well. This makes him an interesting choice on Trump's behalf as he has seemingly sided with both the man Trump fired for investigating him and the one now heading that investigation himself.