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Former FBI Director Christopher Wray has been referred for criminal investigation for lying to Congress and obstructing two cases, according to Fox News.
Wray was referred to the Justice Department by the Oversight Project, a Washington-based transparency watchdog.
Fox News reports, “Oversight Project President Mike Howell told Fox News Digital that the group is specifically asking officials to examine Wray’s congressional testimony on the so-called Richmond memo from the FBI office in Virginia that exposed an anti-Catholic bias there, and his testimony about a Chinese plot to disseminate illicit driver’s licenses before the 2020 election.”
Wray is also alleged to have lied to the House Judiciary Committee when testifying about an FBI memo that labelled American Catholics as potential domestic terrorists.
Referring to the so-called “Richmond memo,” Wray described it as a “single product by a single field office,” and added that “as soon as I found out about it, I was aghast and ordered it withdrawn and removed from FBI systems.”
The Oversight Project alleges that this testimony was deliberately misleading or even false.
Christopher Wray was originally appointed in 2017 by President Trump to serve as the eighth director of the FBI, replacing James Comey after his firing.
Relations between Trump and Wray became strained almost immediately after Wray disagreed with Trump about declassifying a memo alleging abuses in the FBI’s Russiagate investigation. Trump came close to firing Wray in 2020, but Attorney General William Barr said he would resign if Wray was pushed.
Trump’s criticism of Wray grew under the Biden Presidency, especially after the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago. Trump accused Wray of politicizing the FBI, and said the search of his West Pam Beach home was an “illegal raid.”
Wray resigned from his position on 11 December 2024, effective from the last day of Joe Biden’s presidency. President Trump hailed the resignation as “a great day for America.” Wray was replaced by Kash Patel.
