Althouse: "[Christopher] Wray is a safe, mainstream pick from a president who at one point was considering politicians for a job that has historically been kept outside of politics."

June 7, 2017

"[Christopher] Wray is a safe, mainstream pick from a president who at one point was considering politicians for a job that has historically been kept outside of politics."

"Mr. Wray, a former assistant attorney general overseeing the criminal division under President George W. Bush, is likely to allay the fears of F.B.I. agents who worried that Mr. Trump would try to weaken or politicize the F.B.I."

(NYT.)

Oh, no! Too bad. A Trump is normal story. Surely, there are more fertile grounds of Trump material. Let's move on.

23 comments:

Michael K said...: It's too bad he isn't a former agent but Rogers would not have been a good choice.; 6/7/17, 7:48 AM
Hagar said...: "... a job that has historically been kept outside of politics" is pretty rich when talking about J. Edgar's FBI.

However, this guy sounds good, and if he is accepted by the more respectable elements within the Agency, maybe it will work out OK.; 6/7/17, 7:51 AM
mockturtle said...: Is there even any attempt at the NYT to distinguish between editorial comment and news?; 6/7/17, 7:54 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Althouse said ...
Oh, no! Too bad. A Trump is normal story.

Isn't this a 'Trump is not insanely self-destructive' story.; 6/7/17, 7:56 AM
rehajm said...: Funny how early in the article NYT links to Trump's tweet on the matter. Maybe we could all subscribe to his feed and cut out the middle man?; 6/7/17, 7:58 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: "try to weaken the FBI" - opinion masquerading as news again.

oh and - too late.; 6/7/17, 7:59 AM
GWash said...: if he does get confirmed what is the over/under before herr trump deletes him for investigating the next trump inspired kerfluffle or will we leave that to president pence next year?; 6/7/17, 8:05 AM
Hagar said...: Off topic:
"The bromance lives on! Obama squeezes in time to enjoy a private dinner with young pretender Trudeau during his Montreal visit" (Daily Mail)

Pretender? To what?; 6/7/17, 8:08 AM
David Begley said...: For a guy who is supposed to be insane, volatile and intemperate, Trump continues to make great nominations.; 6/7/17, 8:08 AM
Hagar said...: Comey is leaking like crazy. I think his leak about asking Sessions not to leave him alone with Trump shows why he needed to be fired as well as anything else that has come to light so far.; 6/7/17, 8:11 AM
Hagar said...: Off topic again:

There used to be a song "The Great Pretender," but which one of them?; 6/7/17, 8:34 AM
clint said...: Don't worry, this is just the instant reaction.

Tomorrow, the NYT will be telling us how awful he is. And by the time the Senate votes to confirm him, he will be a "controversial" figure surrounded by "serious allegations".

First Prediction: no more than five Democratic senators will vote to confirm Wray. (I'd love to be wrong in this.)

Second Prediction: There will be attempts to link Wray to Bridgegate, based on anonymous sources.; 6/7/17, 8:34 AM
Saint Croix said...: It's amusing how all the media speculation about who the next FBI director would be totally missed this guy.

I wonder if Trump amuses himself by intentionally misleading people. Not only amuses himself, but wrecks the credibility of the media.; 6/7/17, 8:39 AM
traditionalguy said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/7/17, 9:11 AM
traditionalguy said...: Wray is an Atlanta lawyer now with the largest firm in Atlanta, King and Spalding. That is also Sally Yates home base . That means he is well connected to Atlanta power structure of corporations and banks. His specialty is White Collar Crime defendant representation.

The saying is that although King and Spalding practices law, but they do not charge fees, they levy taxes as the cost of getting their connections which are always intensely political.

At age 50, Wray has a three million dollar home off Northside Drive, just past the Bobby Jones Golf Course and east of the Reformed Jewish Temple. It is an older section in the heart of Buckhead that is called the Peachtree Battle area.(the area still has flooding problems from nearby Peachtree Creek, which is the Creek/River that gave its name to the second of three inconclusive Civil War battles. This one started at the old Collier Mill.)

And his home is only a four mile commute to Downtown law firm offices.

It is nice to have FBI influence, but if Atlantans had their prefered power connections , it would be IRS Commissioner.; 6/7/17, 9:12 AM
mockturtle said...: St. Croix asserts: Not only amuses himself, but wrecks the credibility of the media.

The media are quite capable of wrecking their own credibility.; 6/7/17, 9:14 AM
Kevin said...: Clint wins the thread. The real story is no one leaked the name to the NYT in time for the Dem talking points to be written.

That's why it reads as a straight news story.; 6/7/17, 9:14 AM
traditionalguy said...: Mr. Wray is young enough to do the FBI job and then move back into elder statesman position at an influence peddling firm after President Trump has moved on. So he won't burn his bridges to his elite connections. The question is whether he will have courage when it is necessary to stand his ground at any cost. I expect that he will.; 6/7/17, 10:18 AM
Brookzene said...: Comey is leaking like crazy. I think his leak about asking Sessions not to leave him alone with Trump shows why he needed to be fired as well as anything else that has come to light so far.

If they don't know who leaked that story then I think there's a decent chance Sessions was the actual leaker. Sessions did what he had to do when he recused himself and since then he's got a good look at the back of Trump's hand - worse, everyone knows Trump dumped all over him - somebody leaked that.

If that's true, Sessions has motive to leak (a little well-deserved revenge) and there's virtually zilch chance he'll be caught. I don't think it would be illegal either - someone else can weigh in on that though. Sessions might have been fooled early on but I don't think he and Trump are cut from the same cloth at all. Sessions is a die-hard conservative. Trump is more or less a tourist.

Anyway just a thought.; 6/7/17, 11:01 AM
Known Unknown said...: Another white dude. Trump really missed the chance to put a queer person of color in charge for once.; 6/7/17, 11:18 AM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: "Trump really missed the chance to put a queer person of color in charge for once."

We had one for president for 8 years.; 6/7/17, 1:04 PM
Drago said...: Brookzene: if...if...if...ad infinitum.

How many ifs can dance on the head of a pin?; 6/7/17, 3:02 PM
Bob Loblaw said...: It's pretty rich to worry about politicization of the FBI after the Obama years.; 6/7/17, 3:11 PM