FILE - In this May 3, 2017, file photo, then-FBI Director James Comey testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing: "Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation." Comey will testify that President Donald Trump sought his "loyalty" and asked what could be done to "lift the cloud" of investigation shadowing his White House, according to prepared remarks released ahead of his appearance on Capitol Hill on June 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)</s>MEMPHIS, Tenn. — President Donald Trump announced Wednesday he plans to nominate Christopher A. Wray to be the next FBI director.

President Trump’s announcement comes one day before former FBI Director James Comey, whom Trump fired last month, is set to testify in a bombshell hearing before the Senate.

“I will be nominating Christopher A. Wray, a man of impeccable credentials, to be the new Director of the FBI. Details to follow,” Trump tweeted Wednesday morning.

Wray headed up the Justice Department’s criminal division from 2003 to 2005 under President George W. Bush and is currently a litigation partner at the DC-based law firm King & Spalding, where he chairs the firm’s Special Matters and Government Investigations Practice Group.</s>Donald Trump says he is nominating lawyer Christopher A Wray to become the new FBI director.

The post has been empty for the past month after the president fired James Comey from the role.

Mr Wray served under George W Bush as an assistant attorney general from 2003 to 2005.

He was also a lawyer representing New Jersey Governor – and Trump ally – Chris Christie during the “Bridgegate” scandal.

Mr Trump described Mr Wray as “a man of impeccable credentials” in a tweet on Wednesday.</s>I will be nominating Christopher A. Wray, a man of impeccable credentials, to be the new Director of the FBI. Details to follow.</s>President Trump says he has chosen Christopher Wray, who worked in the Justice Department during President George W. Bush's administration, to head the FBI.

The president made the announcement via Twitter, writing Wednesday morning, "I will be nominating Christopher A. Wray, a man of impeccable credentials, to be the new Director of the FBI. Details to follow."</s>President Trump says he has chosen Christopher Wray, who worked in the Justice Department during President George W. Bush's administration, to head the FBI.

The president made the announcement via Twitter, writing Wednesday morning, "I will be nominating Christopher A. Wray, a man of impeccable credentials, to be the new Director of the FBI. Details to follow."

Wray has been in private practice for the past 12 years, working in litigation as a partner at the King & Spalding law firm in Washington and Atlanta. Before that, he spent nearly a decade in the Justice Department, focusing on corporate fraud in addition to trade sanctions, money laundering, and other areas of the law.

"He served on the president's Corporate Fraud Task Force and oversaw the Enron Task Force and other major fraud investigations, both around the country and internationally," Wray's biography at King & Spalding states.

From 2003 to 2005, Wray was the assistant attorney general leading the Justice Department's criminal division. In that post, he worked under attorneys general John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzales — as well as former FBI Director James Comey, who was then the deputy attorney general.

From 1997 to 2001, Wray was an assistant U.S. attorney in north Georgia. In May of 2001, he rose to become an associate deputy attorney general at the Department of Justice.

According to his law firm bio, Wray "has substantial federal appellate experience, including successful oral arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Eleventh Circuit sitting en banc and before the U.S. Supreme Court."

Wray graduated from Yale University in 1989 and also attended law school there, serving as an executive editor of the Yale Law Journal in 1992.</s>President Donald Trump announced Wednesday morning in a tweet that he will nominate Christopher Wray to be his new F.B.I. director.

“I will be nominating Christopher A. Wray, a man of impeccable credentials, to be the new Director of the FBI,” Trump wrote.

The announcement comes one day before former F.B.I. director James Comey is set to testify before Congress. Trump abruptly fired Comey on May 9. At the time, Comey was investigating Russia meddling in the 2016 election.

Wray previously served as the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division under the George W. Bush administration between 2003 and 2005.

He current serves as a litigation partner for the private law firm King & Spalding in Washington D.C. He notably acted as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s personal attorney during the “Bridgegate” scandal.

Wray graduated from Yale University in 1989 and earned his law degree in 1992 from Yale Law School.</s>President Trump says he has chosen Christopher Wray, who worked in the Justice Department during President George W. Bush's administration, to head the FBI.

The president made the announcement via Twitter, writing Wednesday morning, "I will be nominating Christopher A. Wray, a man of impeccable credentials, to be the new Director of the FBI. Details to follow."</s>President Trump says he has chosen Christopher Wray, who worked in the Justice Department during President George W. Bush's administration, to head the FBI.

The president made the announcement via Twitter, writing Wednesday morning, "I will be nominating Christopher A. Wray, a man of impeccable credentials, to be the new Director of the FBI. Details to follow."

Wray has been in private practice for the past 12 years, working in litigation as a partner at the King & Spalding law firm in Washington and Atlanta. From 2003 to 2005, he was the assistant attorney general leading the Justice Department's criminal division. In that post, he worked under attorneys general John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzales — as well as former FBI Director James Comey, who was then the deputy attorney general.

From 1997 to 2001, Wray was an assistant U.S. attorney in north Georgia. In May of 2001, he rose to become an associate deputy attorney general at the Department of Justice, according to his biography at King & Spalding.

According to that bio, Wray "has substantial federal appellate experience, including successful oral arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Eleventh Circuit sitting en banc and before the U.S. Supreme Court."

Wray graduated from Yale University in 1989 and also attended law school there, serving as executive editor of the Yale Law Journal.</s>(CNN) In nominating Christopher Wray to be the next FBI chief, President Donald Trump immediately thrust a low-profile white collar defense lawyer into the public spotlight.

Wray's credentials are classic establishment: a Yale Law School graduate and executive editor of the law review, law clerk to a conservative federal judge, longtime federal prosecutor for decades and top official in the Justice Department under President George W. Bush.

He currently works at King & Spalding as a litigation partner, specializing in the defense of individuals and corporations in white-collar criminal cases -- and even represented New Jersey GOP Gov. Chris Christie during the "Bridgegate" investigation into lane closures at the George Washington Bridge.

"The President asked us to look for an FBI director who has integrity, who understands and is committed to the rule of law, and who is dedicated to protecting the American people from crime, gangs, and terrorists," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement Wednesday. "We have found our man in Chris Wray."

And while Wray was never one of the more public-facing Trump supporters, he has given more than $50,000 to Republican candidates, committees, and his law firm's PAC since 2007, including to John McCain in 2008, Mitt Romney in 2012 and the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2016, Federal Election Commission records show.

Within hours of Trump's announcement, others who had been under consideration for the job praised the choice.

"Chris Wray is super smart, a great lawyer and highly experienced. He will serve the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation well," said former Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson. "I've worked with Chris for a number of years and always had complete confidence in him. He simply doesn't make mistakes. We're very fortunate that he decided to re-enter public service."

Wray first joined the Justice Department in 2001 under Bush, and as a young prosecutor, found himself in the midst of several tumultuous showdowns.

In 2003, questions swirled on Capitol Hill as lawmakers learned that then-Attorney General John Ascroft's top aides were regularly briefing him on key details of the investigation into who revealed the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame and Democratic senators questioned whether Ashcroft had taken on more of a hands-on role than previously understood.

He faced sharp questioning at a Senate judiciary committee hearing but maintained at the time that Ashcroft had been given all the "details needed for him to understand meaningfully what's going on in the investigation."

Less than a year later, Wray was reportedly among the top officials at the Justice Department -- along with embattled former FBI Director James Comey and now special counsel Robert Mueller -- who planned to resign after White House officials tried to persuade a hospitalized Ashcroft to sign off on a warrantless domestic surveillance program in 2004.

"Chris Wray is a man of integrity with a deep commitment to the rule of law," the former attorney general said in a statement. "His substantial experience, particularly in serving on our Justice Department team fighting terrorism after 9/11, uniquely qualifies him to protect America as FBI director."

Harvard Law Professor Jack Goldsmith, who served as a top official at the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel when Wray was at the department -- and has been a vocal critic of Trump -- called Wray a "much better choice" than the other names floated to lead the FBI.

"Wray is smart, serious, and professional. He doesn't have quite the range of experiences that his two predecessors did. But he has deep experience with federal criminal law and the FBI," wrote Goldsmith on Lawfare . "I think Trump's firing of James Comey was a travesty. But Wray is a good choice, a much better choice than any of the politicians I previously saw floated, and a much better choice than I expected Trump to make. Without prejudging what will surely be a probing confirmation process, I think Wray is qualified to be director of the FBI."

Alice Fisher, a partner at Latham & Watkins who was also one of the almost dozen interviewed last month to lead the FBI called Wray a "wonderful choice."

"Chris is a wonderful choice to lead the FBI who cares deeply about the institution and already has strong relationships with the FBI," Fisher said. "His background at the helm of the criminal division offered an excellent experience working on national security, white collar crime and a range of federal crimes as well as offering the privilege of working with the fantastic men and women of the FBI every day. He's an excellent lawyer who will provide even keeled leadership.
United States president Donald Trump announces lawyer Christopher A. Wray as his nominee to be director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.