Trump's pick for FBI Director represented Chris Christie during Bridgegate scandal

Christie has said that Trump would "not be making a mistake if he asked Chris Wray to be FBI director"

By Matthew Rozsa

Staff Writer

Published June 7, 2017 9:34AM (EDT)

 (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
(AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

The lawyer nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as America's new FBI Director is best-known for representing another close Trump adviser, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, during the Bridgegate scandal.

Wray was part of a legal team that represented Christie after he was embroiled in scandal over his alleged involvement in the George Washington Bridge lane closures of 2013, according to NJ.com. Christie had previously said that Trump would "not be making a mistake if he asked Chris Wray to be FBI director," an opinion that almost certainly carries weight with the White House given that Christie continues to be a close ally for Trump.

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Reporter Matt Katz said that Wray "held onto the cell phone Chris Christie used during Bridgegate and never let go. Was never obtained by feds."

Wray also served as head of the Department of Justice's criminal division under President George W. Bush from 2003 to 2005. While there, Wray oversaw the Enron Task Force during his work with the President's Corporate Fraud Task Force.

In a watchdog report later released about allegations of politicized hiring for the Justice Department's honors and summer law intern programs, Wray was mentioned as saying that the political and ideological views of candidates only came up so that the program could be more inclusive, arguing that it was perceived past administrations may have eliminated candidates who had been in the military or law enforcement, "whether you call that conservative or not."

Presently Wray works as a litigation partner at the Washington law firm King & Spalding, where he chairs the Special Matters and Government Investigations Practice Group.


By Matthew Rozsa

Matthew Rozsa is a staff writer at Salon. He received a Master's Degree in History from Rutgers-Newark in 2012 and was awarded a science journalism fellowship from the Metcalf Institute in 2022.

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Bridgegate Chris Christie Christopher Wray Donald Trump Partner Video