FBI Director Christopher Wray has described a Republican congresswoman's claim that he is biased against conservatives as "somewhat insane."
Wray, a lifelong Republican and an appointee of former President Donald Trump, fielded questions from GOP Representative Harriet Hageman of Wyoming while testifying before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
House Republicans continue to accuse the federal government of "weaponizing" the justice system in the wake of Trump's indictment on multiple federal felony charges related to his post-presidency retention of classified documents.
A number of pro-Trump Republicans have accused the FBI in particular of becoming more politicized under the stewardship of Wray, which began following his nomination by the ex-president in 2017.
Hageman argued that the justice system works to "persecute people based on their political beliefs" during her questioning of Wray on Wednesday, saying that he "personally worked to weaponize the FBI against conservatives."
The FBI director shot back with a pointed response defending himself and the work of the agency he leads.
"I would disagree with your characterization of the FBI and certainly your description of my own approach," said Wray. "The idea that I'm biased against conservatives seems somewhat insane to me, given my own personal background."
"As to how we are approaching our work of protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution ... we need to do the right thing in the right way," he continued. "And that means following the facts wherever they lead, no matter who likes it."
In a statement to Newsweek, Hageman said that "what is insane is the Director denying bias in his organization," arguing that House Republicans "have been shown evidence of repeated incidents where bias has been explicit."
"It was on Director Wray's watch that the Foreign Influence Task Force, which sounds more like a KGB program than something that should exist in America, was formed," Hageman said. The task force mentioned by Hageman investigates foreign governments attempting to influence U.S. politics, which Wray established under the Trump administration in fall 2017.
"This task force is at the heart of the censorship and suppression of conservative voices today," she continued. "It should be abolished immediately and the FBI should keep its activities within the guidelines of our Constitution."
Wray faced an onslaught of criticism from a variety of Republicans during his testimony. Representative Chip Roy of Texas accused him of running a "tyrannical" law enforcement agency, while Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida said that FBI agents "deserve better" than his leadership.
Representative Ken Buck of Colorado was one of the few Republicans who did not lash out at Wray during the hearing, instead thanking him for "protecting law-abiding Americans from the evil that exists all around us" and urging him not to change his "party affiliation after this hearing is over."
MAGA Republican criticism against Wray ramped up after last summer's FBI raid of Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence, which spiraled into an investigation by Special Counsel Jack Smith and eventually led to the former president facing federal charges.
Trump, who says that all of the charges and investigations are part of a politically motivated "witch hunt," could still face additional charges stemming from Smith's ongoing investigation of attempts to overturn President Joe Biden's 2020 presidential election win and Trump's activities surrounding the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Update 07/12/23, 9:42 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to include a statement from Hageman.
