WEBVTT - Bloomberg Law Brief: Wray Faces Senate Confirmation (Audio)

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<v Speaker 1>It's time now for our daily Bloomberg Law Brief, exploring

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<v Speaker 1>legal issues in the news. And Today, Bloomberg Law host

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<v Speaker 1>During Grasso discussed his confirmation hearing sort President Trump's picked

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<v Speaker 1>a lee the FBI, Christopher Ray. She speaks with Benjamin Wagner,

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<v Speaker 1>a partner at Gibson Dunn and former U S Attorney

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<v Speaker 1>for the Eastern District of California. Benjamin did Ray pass

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<v Speaker 1>the loyalty test to the rule of law that the

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<v Speaker 1>senators seemed to be giving him, Well, I think so. Um. Obviously,

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<v Speaker 1>he needed to convey that he understood this was a

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<v Speaker 1>very unusual situation that he was in. The circumstances surrounding

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<v Speaker 1>the departure of the prior director, the ongoing Special Council

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<v Speaker 1>investigation UH puts Mr Ray in a very, uh, sort

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<v Speaker 1>of unusual situation going in as FBI director, And I

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<v Speaker 1>think he needed to convey that he understood that that

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<v Speaker 1>he was going to be independent by the book. UH.

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<v Speaker 1>And I think he did a good job of responding

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<v Speaker 1>to questions from both sides of the aisle in reassuring

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<v Speaker 1>senators that that he understood the situation and and he

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<v Speaker 1>could be relied upon to be nonpartisan and independent. Ray

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<v Speaker 1>was asked so many questions as hypotheticals that were really

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<v Speaker 1>based on things that James Coby did or said, for example,

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<v Speaker 1>his press conference on Hillary Clinton's email investigation and his

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<v Speaker 1>testimony that Trump asked him to drop the investigation into

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<v Speaker 1>former National Security advisor Michael Flynn. What was your reaction

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<v Speaker 1>to the senators taking the facts and putting them into

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<v Speaker 1>hypotheticals for him, Well, you know, it's not surprising. There's

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<v Speaker 1>always a little bit of this kind of game that

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<v Speaker 1>goes back and forth um at uh confirmation hearings for

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<v Speaker 1>these kinds of positions. You saw it in the Supreme

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<v Speaker 1>Court confirmation hearing recently, where that nominees understandably don't want

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<v Speaker 1>to be sort of on the record talking about facts

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<v Speaker 1>that are either outside their uh their personal knowledge or

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<v Speaker 1>talk about things that may come before them. Uh, and

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<v Speaker 1>they may have to, you know, be be held to

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<v Speaker 1>opinions that were expressed earlier when they didn't know all

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<v Speaker 1>the facts, and so they're very careful about that. And

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<v Speaker 1>for that reason, Uh, you know, senators have been through

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<v Speaker 1>this rigmarole before, and so I think they approach it

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<v Speaker 1>in the sort of a hypothetical uh in order to

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<v Speaker 1>get the person talking, so they can get a sense

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<v Speaker 1>of the person without UH forcing a question that they

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<v Speaker 1>know that the nominee will not answer, as Benjamin Wagner,

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<v Speaker 1>a partner at Gibson and Dunn, speaking with Bloomberg La

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<v Speaker 1>host Jun Grass. So you can listen to Bloomberg Law

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<v Speaker 1>weekdays at one pm Wall Street Time here on Bloomberg

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<v Speaker 1>Radio and among the top legal stories from Bloomberg Law,

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<v Speaker 1>A federal judge in Hawaii has vastly expanded the list

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<v Speaker 1>of relatives exempt from President Trump's travel ban. The ruling

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<v Speaker 1>is the latest pushback in the fight set off by

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<v Speaker 1>the band the President first attempted in January, will culminate

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<v Speaker 1>with arguments in front of the U. S. Supreme Court

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<v Speaker 1>in October. And that's this morning's Bloomberg Lawbrary. If you

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<v Speaker 1>can find more illegal news at Bloomberg Law dot com

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<v Speaker 1>and Bloomberg BNA dot com. Attorneys will find exceptional legal

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<v Speaker 1>research and business development tools there as well. Visit Bloomberg

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<v Speaker 1>Law dot com and Bloomberg BNA dot com for more information.