President Donald Trump's pick for FBI director says he does not consider special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation a "witch hunt."

Christopher Wray made the comments under questioning by Sen. Lindsey Graham about Trump's own comments on the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 campaign.

In a series of statements on Twitter, Trump called Mueller's investigation a "WITCH HUNT" based on the "phony" premise of possible collusion between Russia and a cadre of Trump campaign associates.

Wray says simply, "I do not consider Director Mueller to be on a witch hunt."

POOL

Washington - 12 July 2017

1. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Patrick Leahy, (D) Vermont:

"From what we've seen from the White House, they may be expecting your loyalty, as the president did with Directory Comey. You told me yesterday there's been no question by anybody in the White House asking you for a pledge of loyalty, is that correct?"

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director Nominee:

"That's correct, Senator. My loyalty is to the Constitution, to the rule of law and to the mission of the FBI and no one asked me for any kind of loyalty oath at any point during this process and I sure as heck didn't offer one."

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Patrick Leahy, (D) Vermont:

"If the president asks you to do something unlawful or unethical, what do you say?"

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director Nominee:

"First, I would try to talk him out of it and if that failed, I would resign."

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina:

"If I got a call from somebody saying the Russian government wants to help Lindsey Graham get reelected, they've got dirt on Lindsey Graham's opponent, should I take that meeting?"

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director Nominee:

"Well, Senator, I would think you'd want to consult with some good legal advisers before you did that."

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina:

"So the answer is, should I call the FBI... you're going to be the director of the FBI, pal. So here's what I want you to tell every politician: if you get a call from somebody suggesting that a foreign government wants to help you by disparaging your opponent, tell us all to call the FBI."

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director Nominee:

"To the members of this committee, any threat or effort to interfere with our elections from any nation state or any non-state actor is the kind of thing the FBI would want to know."

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina:

"Is Russia our friend or our enemy?"

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director Nominee:

"Senator, I think Russia is a foreign nation that we have to deal with very warily."

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina:

"Do you think they're an adversary of the United States?"

12. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director Nominee:

"In some situations, yes."

13. Wide of hearing

14. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director Nominee (on Comey press conference on Hillary Clinton email investigation):

"I can't imagine a situation where, as FBI director, I would be giving a press conference on an uncharged individual, much less talk in detail about it."

15. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina:

"I'm asking you, as the future FBI director, do you consider this endeavor (Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation) a witch hunt?"

16. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director Nominee:

"I do not consider Director Mueller to be on a witch hunt."

17. Wide of hearing

18. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director Nominee:

"It's not ever been my practice to blur the line between FBI investigator and Department of Justice prosecutor. It's never been my practice to speak publicly as a prosecutor or as a department official about uncharged individuals. I think those policies are important, I think they're in place for a reason. And I would expect to comply with them."

19. Wide of hearing

20. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director Nominee:

"No one has asked me for any loyalty oath and I wouldn't offer one. As I said, my loyalty is to the Constitution, the rule of law and the mission of the FBI."

21. Wide of hearing

Breaking with the US president, the lawyer Donald Trump picked to lead the FBI declared Wednesday that he does not believe a special counsel investigation into possible coordination between Russia and the Trump presidential campaign is a "witch hunt."

Christopher Wray, the former high-ranking Justice Department official whom Trump nominated last month, also told senators at his confirmation hearing that he would never let politics get in the way of the bureau's mission.

The FBI's work will be driven only by "the facts, the law and the impartial pursuit of justice," he said, asserting his independence. "My loyalty is to the Constitution and the rule of law. They have been my guideposts throughout my career, and I will continue to adhere to them no matter the test."

Trump has repeatedly derided as a "hoax" and a "witch hunt" an ongoing investigation by the FBI and Robert Mueller, the former FBI director selected in May as the special counsel to oversee the probe.

Wray, selected for the FBI job last month after Trump fired James Comey, made clear that he disagreed with the characterization.

POOL

Washington,D.C. - 12 July 2017

1. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Patrick Leahy, (D) Vermont:

"From what we've seen from the White House, they may be expecting your loyalty, as the president did with Directory Comey. You told me yesterday there's been no question by anybody in the White House asking you for a pledge of loyalty, is that correct?"

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director Nominee:

"That's correct, Senator. My loyalty is to the Constitution, to the rule of law and to the mission of the FBI and no one asked me for any kind of loyalty oath at any point during this process and I sure as heck didn't offer one."

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Patrick Leahy, (D) Vermont:

"If the president asks you to do something unlawful or unethical, what do you say?"

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director Nominee:

"First, I would try to talk him out of it and if that failed, I would resign."

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina:

"If I got a call from somebody saying the Russian government wants to help Lindsey Graham get re-elected, they've got dirt on Lindsey Graham's opponent, should I take that meeting?"

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director Nominee:

"Well, Senator, I would think you'd want to consult with some good legal advisers before you did that."

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina:

"So the answer is, should I call the FBI... you're going to be the director of the FBI, pal. So here's what I want you to tell every politician: if you get a call from somebody suggesting that a foreign government wants to help you by disparaging your opponent, tell us all to call the FBI."

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director Nominee:

"To the members of this committee, any threat or effort to interfere with our elections from any nation state or any non-state actor is the kind of thing the FBI would want to know."

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina:

"Is Russia our friend or our enemy?"

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director Nominee:

"Senator, I think Russia is a foreign nation that we have to deal with very warily."

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina:

"Do you think they're an adversary of the United States?"

12. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director Nominee:

"In some situations, yes."

13. Wide of hearing

14. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director Nominee (on Comey press conference on Hillary Clinton email investigation):

"I can't imagine a situation where, as FBI director, I would be giving a press conference on an uncharged individual, much less talk in detail about it."

15. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina:

"I'm asking you, as the future FBI director, do you consider this endeavor (Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation) a witch hunt?"

16. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director Nominee:

"I do not consider Director Mueller to be on a witch hunt."

17. Wide of hearing

18. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director Nominee:

"It's not ever been my practice to blur the line between FBI investigator and Department of Justice prosecutor. It's never been my practice to speak publicly as a prosecutor or as a department official about uncharged individuals. I think those policies are important, I think they're in place for a reason. And I would expect to comply with them."

19. Wide of hearing

20. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director Nominee:

"No one has asked me for any loyalty oath and I wouldn't offer one. As I said, my loyalty is to the Constitution, the rule of law and the mission of the FBI."

21. Wide of hearing

The FBI is determined to not repeat any of the mistakes identified in a harshly critical watchdog report on the handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, Director Chris Wray said Monday at a congressional hearing.

Wray said the FBI accepts the findings of the Justice Department inspector general report and has begun making changes, including about how the FBI handles especially sensitive investigations. The bureau is also reinforcing for employees the need to avoid the appearance of political bias, a key point of criticism in last week's report.

"We're going to learn from the report and be better as a result," Wray said.

The report blasted FBI actions during the 2016 investigation into whether Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate, had mishandled classified information on her private email server when she was secretary of state.

It said anti-Donald Trump text messages exchanged by FBI employees who worked on the investigation cast a cloud on the agency's handling of the probe and damaged its reputation. It also said that fired FBI Director James Comey repeatedly broke from protocol, including when he publicly announced his recommendation against charging Clinton and when he bucked the judgment of Justice Department bosses by alerting Congress months later that the investigation was being reopened because of newly discovered emails.

But the report found that the July 2016 decision to spare Clinton from criminal charges was not tainted by political bias or considerations.

Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who joined Wray at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Monday, said there are lessons to be learned from the 500-page report, including about respecting an institution's hierarchy and norms.

POOL

Washington - 18 June 2018

1. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Chuck Grassley, (R) Iowa:

"The Justice Department faces a serious credibility problem because millions of Americans suspect that there is a double standard. They see a story of kid glove treatment for one side and bare knuckle tactics for the other."

2. Wide of hearing

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Chuck Grassley, (R) Iowa:

"Director Wray has quite a mess to clean up. I think he probably knows that. The department has serious accountability issues. In scandal after scandal, accountability is the exception rather than the rule."

4. Wide of hearing

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Dianne Feinstein, (D) California:

"While the report is highly critical of Director Comey, it did not find that it was biased against President Trump or in favor of Secretary Clinton, as some have alleged."

6. Wide of hearing

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Dianne Feinstein, (D) California:

"Throughout the Clinton investigation, Republicans in Congress demanded information from Director Comey and the Justice Department under subpoena and threat of contempt. Today, they are doing the same thing with special counsel Mueller's investigation. It was wrong then and it's wrong now."

8. Wide of Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz and FBI Director Christopher Wray swearing in

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Horowitz, Department of Justice Inspector General:

"As detailed in our report, we found that the inappropriate political messages we uncovered cast a cloud over the media investigation, sowed doubt about the credibility of the FBI's handling of it and impacted the reputation of the FBI."

10. Wide of hearing

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Horowitz, Department of Justice Inspector General:

"With regard to the decision to close the investigation without prosecution, we found no evidence that the conclusions by the prosecutors were the result of improper considerations, including political bias, but rather were exercises of prosecutorial discretion by the prosecutors based on their assessment of the facts of the law and past department practice."

12. Wide of Horowitz and Wray

13. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director:

"Although the report did not find any evidence of political bias or improper considerations ultimately impacting the investigation under review, the report did identify errors of judgment, violations of or disregard for policy and decisions that at least in the benefit of hindsight, were certainly not the best choices."

14. Wide of Horowitz and Wray

15. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director:

"The OIG's report makes clear that we have significant work to do. And as I said, we're going to learn from the report and be better as a result. At the same time, I want to emphasize that this report is focused on a specific set of events back in 2016 and a small number of FBI employees connected with those events. Mistakes made by those employees do not define our 37,000 men and women and the great work they do everyday. Nothing in this report impugns the integrity of our workforce as a whole or the FBI as an institution. I want to be very clear with this committee about the FBI that I've been able to see up close every day in the 10 months since my confirmation hearing before you all."

16. UPSOUND (English) Sen. Patrick Leahy, (D) Vermont:

"Do you have any reason to believe that this investigation has been discredited?"

17. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director:

"Senator, as I said to you last month and as I said before, I do not believe special counsel Mueller is on a witch hunt."

18. Wide of Horowitz and Wray

19. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director:

"What I can tell you is that I cannot imagine a situation in which I would unilaterally assume for myself, as the FBI director, a charging decision and then announce it in a news conference."

20. Wide of hearing

The FBI is determined to not repeat any of the mistakes identified in a harshly critical watchdog report on the handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, Director Chris Wray said Monday at a congressional hearing.

Wray said the FBI accepts the findings of the Justice Department inspector general report and has begun making changes, including about how the FBI handles especially sensitive investigations. The bureau is also reinforcing for employees the need to avoid the appearance of political bias, a key point of criticism in last week's report.

"We're going to learn from the report and be better as a result," Wray said.

The report blasted FBI actions during the 2016 investigation into whether Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate, had mishandled classified information on her private email server when she was secretary of state.

It said anti-Donald Trump text messages exchanged by FBI employees who worked on the investigation cast a cloud on the agency's handling of the probe and damaged its reputation. It also said that fired FBI Director James Comey repeatedly broke from protocol, including when he publicly announced his recommendation against charging Clinton and when he bucked the judgment of Justice Department bosses by alerting Congress months later that the investigation was being reopened because of newly discovered emails.

But the report found that the July 2016 decision to spare Clinton from criminal charges was not tainted by political bias or considerations.

Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who joined Wray at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Monday, said there are lessons to be learned from the 500-page report, including about respecting an institution's hierarchy and norms.

POOL

Washington - 18 June 2018

1. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Chuck Grassley, (R) Iowa:

"The Justice Department faces a serious credibility problem because millions of Americans suspect that there is a double standard. They see a story of kid glove treatment for one side and bare knuckle tactics for the other."

2. Wide of hearing

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Chuck Grassley, (R) Iowa:

"Director Wray has quite a mess to clean up. I think he probably knows that. The department has serious accountability issues. In scandal after scandal, accountability is the exception rather than the rule."

4. Wide of hearing

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Dianne Feinstein, (D) California:

"While the report is highly critical of Director Comey, it did not find that it was biased against President Trump or in favor of Secretary Clinton, as some have alleged."

6. Wide of hearing

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Dianne Feinstein, (D) California:

"Throughout the Clinton investigation, Republicans in Congress demanded information from Director Comey and the Justice Department under subpoena and threat of contempt. Today, they are doing the same thing with special counsel Mueller's investigation. It was wrong then and it's wrong now."

8. Wide of Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz and FBI Director Christopher Wray swearing in

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Horowitz, Department of Justice Inspector General:

"As detailed in our report, we found that the inappropriate political messages we uncovered cast a cloud over the media investigation, sowed doubt about the credibility of the FBI's handling of it and impacted the reputation of the FBI."

10. Wide of hearing

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Horowitz, Department of Justice Inspector General:

"With regard to the decision to close the investigation without prosecution, we found no evidence that the conclusions by the prosecutors were the result of improper considerations, including political bias, but rather were exercises of prosecutorial discretion by the prosecutors based on their assessment of the facts of the law and past department practice."

12. Wide of Horowitz and Wray

13. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director:

"Although the report did not find any evidence of political bias or improper considerations ultimately impacting the investigation under review, the report did identify errors of judgment, violations of or disregard for policy and decisions that at least in the benefit of hindsight, were certainly not the best choices."

14. Wide of Horowitz and Wray

15. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director:

"The OIG's report makes clear that we have significant work to do. And as I said, we're going to learn from the report and be better as a result. At the same time, I want to emphasize that this report is focused on a specific set of events back in 2016 and a small number of FBI employees connected with those events. Mistakes made by those employees do not define our 37,000 men and women and the great work they do everyday. Nothing in this report impugns the integrity of our workforce as a whole or the FBI as an institution. I want to be very clear with this committee about the FBI that I've been able to see up close every day in the 10 months since my confirmation hearing before you all."

16. UPSOUND (English) Sen. Patrick Leahy, (D) Vermont:

"Do you have any reason to believe that this investigation has been discredited?"

17. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director:

"Senator, as I said to you last month and as I said before, I do not believe special counsel Mueller is on a witch hunt."

18. Wide of Horowitz and Wray

19. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director:

"What I can tell you is that I cannot imagine a situation in which I would unilaterally assume for myself, as the FBI director, a charging decision and then announce it in a news conference."

20. Wide of hearing

FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: apus099289

The FBI is determined to not repeat any of the mistakes identified in a harshly critical watchdog report on the handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, Director Chris Wray said Monday at a congressional hearing.

Wray said the FBI accepts the findings of the Justice Department inspector general report and has begun making changes, including about how the FBI handles especially sensitive investigations. The bureau is also reinforcing for employees the need to avoid the appearance of political bias, a key point of criticism in last week's report.

"We're going to learn from the report and be better as a result," Wray said.

The report blasted FBI actions during the 2016 investigation into whether Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate, had mishandled classified information on her private email server when she was secretary of state.

It said anti-Donald Trump text messages exchanged by FBI employees who worked on the investigation cast a cloud on the agency's handling of the probe and damaged its reputation. It also said that fired FBI Director James Comey repeatedly broke from protocol, including when he publicly announced his recommendation against charging Clinton and when he bucked the judgment of Justice Department bosses by alerting Congress months later that the investigation was being reopened because of newly discovered emails.

But the report found that the July 2016 decision to spare Clinton from criminal charges was not tainted by political bias or considerations.

Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who joined Wray at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Monday, said there are lessons to be learned from the 500-page report, including about respecting an institution's hierarchy and norms.

POOL

Washington - 18 June 2018

++SOUNDBITES SEPARATED BY WHITE FLASHES++

1. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Chuck Grassley, (R) Iowa:

"The Justice Department faces a serious credibility problem because millions of Americans suspect that there is a double standard. They see a story of kid glove treatment for one side and bare knuckle tactics for the other."

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Chuck Grassley, (R) Iowa:

"Director Wray has quite a mess to clean up. I think he probably knows that. The department has serious accountability issues. In scandal after scandal, accountability is the exception rather than the rule."

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director:

"Although the report did not find any evidence of political bias or improper considerations ultimately impacting the investigation under review, the report did identify errors of judgment, violations of or disregard for policy and decisions that at least in the benefit of hindsight, were certainly not the best choices."

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director:

"The OIG's report makes clear that we have significant work to do. And as I said, we're going to learn from the report and be better as a result. At the same time, I want to emphasize that this report is focused on a specific set of events back in 2016 and a small number of FBI employees connected with those events. Mistakes made by those employees do not define our 37,000 men and women and the great work they do everyday. Nothing in this report impugns the integrity of our workforce as a whole or the FBI as an institution. I want to be very clear with this committee about the FBI that I've been able to see up close every day in the 10 months since my confirmation hearing before you all."

5. UPSOUND (English) Sen. Patrick Leahy, (D) Vermont:

"Do you have any reason to believe that this investigation has been discredited?"

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director:

"Senator, as I said to you last month and as I said before, I do not believe special counsel Mueller is on a witch hunt."

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Wray, FBI Director:

"What I can tell you is that I cannot imagine a situation in which I would unilaterally assume for myself, as the FBI director, a charging decision and then announce it in a news conference."