FBI director nominee Chris Wray is likely to run into new questions about Russia’s interference in the U.S. elections at his confirmation hearing Wednesday, as a political storm has swept up around the President’s eldest son, CNN reads.
Trump’s selection of Wray, a former federal prosecutor who enjoys broad bipartisan support, has been viewed as a rare bright spot amid the calamity spurred by the President’s firing of former FBI Director James Comey in May.
However, Wray is now set to appear before the Senate judiciary committee, one of the four congressional committees looking into Russian interference in the election, just as Trump Jr.’s meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya has reignited questions about the Trump campaign’s involvement.
A Justice Department-appointed special counsel is also investigating Russian interference in last year’s election.
When asked whether Trump Jr.’s email would come up during the hearing, Senate judiciary committee chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa told reporters Tuesday on Capitol Hill, “I don’t know whether we could expect any answers from him on that subject.”
The top Democrat on the committee, Senator Dianne Feinstein, issued a statement Tuesday that didn’t mention Wray’s confirmation but did highlight how she sees the Trump Jr. emails.
“There are still many questions that must be answered,” Feinstein said in the statement.
“That’s why I’ve urged Chairman Grassley to move quickly—this issue is squarely within the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee and I believe we need to have Donald Trump, Jr., and other individuals come before the committee, in open session, as soon as possible.”
Last summer, Trump Jr. agreed to meet with Veselnitskaya, whom he believed to be a “Russian government attorney” after receiving an email offering him “very high level and sensitive information” that would “incriminate” Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, according to emails the younger Trump publicly released on Tuesday.
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