Committee Chairman Jim Jordan opened the hearing, beginning with multiple attacks on the FBI, CNN reports. He noted that the office allowed social media companies to cover up the Hunter Biden laptop story in 2020. Republicans have accused Ray of undermining public confidence in law enforcement, including the investigation of former President Donald Trump. and President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden. Ray declined to answer specific questions about the ongoing federal investigations.
“Are you defending the Bidens?” asked Rep. Matt Goetz, after asking the intelligence chief about the IRS whistleblower’s allegations related to the Hunter Biden investigation. “Absolutely not,” Ray replied. “The FBI has no interest in protecting anyone politically.” Getz and Ray got into a heated argument after a Florida Republican said the bureau had “the lowest level of credibility in FBI history.”
“People trusted the FBI more when J. Edgar Hoover ran it than when you did, and the reason is that you don’t give straight answers,” Goetz said. “Dear Congressman, in your home state of Florida, the number of people who apply to work with us and dedicate their lives to working for us is over 100 percent,” Ray responded. Gaetz replied: “We are very proud of them and they deserve more than you.”
Republicans have accused the FBI, and Ray personally, of being biased against conservatives. “The idea that I am biased against conservatives seems a little crazy to me, given my personal background,” said Ray, a Trump Republican nominee. Committee head Jordan made the FBI the center of his group’s investigative work and set out to prove that the bureau used various methods. Republicans in the House of Representatives continue to accuse the US Department of Justice and its subordinates and the FBI of applying double standards in the justice system. Ray, for his part, highlighted the office’s successes over the past year, including the arrest of more than “20,000 violent criminals and child kidnappers” and “more than 300 investigations against the leadership” of the drug cartels that transport fentanyl and other drugs across the southern border. He said, “This is the real FBI.” Ray also said that after last year’s raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, the office created a new unit to deal with threats to FBI personnel. After a search last August, the office said it was investigating an “unprecedented” number of threats to intelligence agents and property.
“For Republicans, this hearing is nothing more than a performance. It is an elaborate spectacle conceived with only two objectives: to protect Donald Trump from the consequences of his actions and to return him to the White House in the next election, ”said the New York representative. Jerry Nadler, the Democratic head of the committee.
The Trump-related investigations were only part of the criticism Ray faced. Republicans have also leveled accusations that Catholic Americans have been targeted by the FBI, and the FBI’s alleged role in censoring free speech has also been a focus of attention for lawmakers. AP called the hearings a manifestation of a new reality on Capitol Hill, where Republicans who have long called themselves advocates of police and “law and order” are deeply at odds with law enforcement. feds and the FBI, accusing the bureau of bias in investigations
On Monday, the committee released a new report alleging that the FBI was involved in a misguided attempt to “stop Russian disinformation” at the request of the SBU, which instead lured genuine American accounts into a trap, including an account Verified Russian from the US Department of State languages website.
