March 31, 2023

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has shocked many Americans by becoming a politicized law enforcement arm of the Democrat party. As the target of one of the FBI and Department of Justice political attacks — solely because I had been talking to Ukrainian whistleblowers about Biden family corruption in that country — I want to discuss the problem.  It starts with the most political Director of the FBI, Christopher Wray.

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How exactly did Wray become Director? The saga of who headed the most prestigious and respected (previous to Wray) law enforcement agency under Donald Trump includes political naiveite as well as sophistication, depending on the actor.

The naiveite begins with the Trump transition team.  My husband (and law partner) Joe diGenova and I sent message after message to the team to have President-elect Trump fire then-Director James Comey immediately. We were well aware of his many instances of harassing conservatives with baseless federal investigations. 

We were informed that “New Yorkers” on Trump’s team thought it would look “unseemly.” They were unaware that cleaning house in a new administration is regular order in D.C.  How did it look months later when Trump fired Comey in the midst of the Russia, Russia, Russia! investigation?

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Having limited knowledge of both Washington politics (one must know who the alligators are to drain the swamp) and federal law enforcement, Trump turned to a person who should have such knowledge to propose a Comey replacement: former U.S. Attorney (Eastern District of New Jersey) and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.  Christie had been a political opponent, then avid supporter of Trump.  What better background for a person asked to suggest a new FBI Director.  Christie’s choice: Chris Wray.

The Christie/Wray relationship was cemented when Wray represented Christie in the “Bridgegate” debacle, which occurred while Christie was governor. The scandal began on September 9, 2013, when two of three toll lanes on the George Washington Bridge were closed during rush hour, creating traffic jams in Ft. Lee, NJ.  There were reports that paramedics were delayed getting to victims, further exacerbating the political uproar.  

It was later claimed that the lanes had been intentionally closed to punish Ft. Lee’s Democrat Mayor Mark Sokolich, who had not supported Christie for Governor. 

Three aides for Christie were indicted on fraud charges, which were later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. Although the aides testified that they had discussed the lane closing with Christie, he was not indicted.  Significantly, his cell phone, which would have revealed all his conversations and texts regarding the bridge closure, went “missing.”  

At some point Christie admitted it was in the possession of Wray although he had previously claimed the government had it.  Curiously, federal prosecutors never pursued Wray to obtain it.  Could it be because Wray knew the key federal prosecutors from the days he directed all U.S. Attorney offices as Assistant Attorney General (AAG), Criminal Division of DOJ, under George W. Bush? 

As Christie describes Wray, whom he had met when Wray was AAG and Christie was U.S Attorney, “When I was at the absolute lowest point of my professional life, he’s who I called.”  What a debt.  And what a sophisticated payback.