WATCH: Chris Christie Rushes To Wray’s Defense: ‘I Think Chris Wray Has Done A Good Job’

Former New Jersey Governor and current 2024 GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie came out in defense of FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday. Christie’s public support for Wray, aired on Fox News today, comes in response to what he has called “theater and people trying to raise money for campaigns” during today’s Judiciary Committee hearing.

Wray has recently been the subject of significant criticism from some GOP quarters, leading to a highly charged session during the Judiciary Committee hearing earlier today. In response, Christie made an impassioned defense for the FBI director, stating, “What you saw today, I think, was an animated and combative FBI director who’s defending the men and women who work for him every day and do a great job.”

Christie went on to praise Wray for his efforts in protecting the United States from both domestic and international terrorism threats and tackling drug cartels.

The former governor commented, “So, yeah, I think Chris Wray has done a very good job. And I think, look, a lot of the stuff you see today, John, is theater and people trying to raise money for campaigns.”

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As the 2024 presidential election campaign gears up, Christie’s stance on this high-profile matter represents an interesting divergence from some of his party counterparts.

During the anticipated confrontation between Wray and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Jordan ripped into the director. Jordan initiated his attack on the so-called “Orwellian” censorship regime of the Biden administration. He highlighted the FBI’s complicity in covering up for Hunter Biden’s laptop data.

Jordan pointed out that the suppressed speech by the administration was predominantly conservative. He then scrutinized various controversies surrounding the FBI, such as the improper investigation of concerned parents about the education system, overreaction towards abortion clinic protestors, spying on Trump’s 2016 campaign, the raid on Mar-a-Lago, and punishing congressional whistleblowers.

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Jordan also criticized the FBI for seeking taxpayer funds for a new headquarters and the re-authorization of the FISA 702 program, which had previously been misused. He made these points clear in a tweet: “Retaliate against a whistleblower? Lose your salary. Discourage U.S. Marshalls from protecting [SCOTUS] justices? No funds for you. And no new funds for an FBI headquarters!”

During the hearing, Jordan questioned Wray about a memo detailing the FBI’s policy on securing informants within the Catholic Church due to a supposed connection between “radical-traditionalist Catholic ideology” and “violent extremism.” Wray denied any action taken based on this memo and promised to brief Congress on an internal review regarding the memo’s motivation later in the summer.

Jordan argued that politics and political preferences were the driving force behind the memo, as it was released months before “the next general election” and targeted a specific religious group’s views on abortion rights, immigration, affirmative action, and LGBTQ protection.