According to a report from CNN, Christopher Wray, Donald Trump’s nominee to be the director of the FBI, represented an American energy executive in 2006 who was being criminally investigated by the Russian government:
“A copy of Wray’s biography from the law firm King and Spalding archived in December 2016 noted that Wray had represented “an energy company president in a criminal investigation by Russian authorities.” By June of this year, that information had been removed. The line appears to be the one of few bits of information ever removed from the page since 2009, with most of the changes since then consisting of minor word changes and additions.
This is a screen capture of the archived website bullet point prior to the removal:
Now, when you visit the live law firm website, the information has been removed: http://www.kslaw.com/people/Christopher-Wray
The Russian information had been listed on Wray’s bio on the website since 2011, as you can see in the website archive, but then mysteriously disappeared just weeks before his nomination.
The name of the client was not disclosed on Wray’s biography. A spokesperson for King and Spalding declined to provide the name of client when asked, citing “the Rules of Professional Responsibility regarding client confidentiality.” A DOJ spokesperson also would not provide further details.”
Naturally, it has been reported that he made the change himself in January 2017 well before he ever considered a nomination for any administration position.
Per Micheline Tang, a spokeswoman for King and Spalding, “Chris made this change to his bio, along with other minor tweaks, in an attempt to make the material more current. At the time he made the adjustments — January 12, 2017 — he was not being considered for, and did not anticipate being nominated for, FBI Director, or any position in government. Moreover, the representation that was dropped from his online bio related to a matter where Chris, King & Spalding, and the client were adverse to the Russian Government. Mr. Wray worked on this matter in 2006. Other attorneys at the firm worked on the matter in 2006, 2007, and 2011.”
“The executive is an American citizen and lives in the United States,” she continued. “During the course of the dispute, the Russian government sought to exert leverage against this executive and the company by initiating a criminal investigation in Russia against him. Chris and the firm were engaged to handle the U.S. legal issues that arose from the situation.”
Per the firm’s website, it has worked closely in the energy sector in Russia, and represented companies in deals with the Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft and Gazprom.
Seems only fitting that President Trump would settle on Wray as his nominee. And only weeks after abruptly removing James Comey from the post during the bureau’s Russia investigation, no less. Not suspicious at all.
