(Bloomberg) -- House Republicans Thursday questioned whether political bias against Donald Trump has infected the FBI in what appeared to be a mounting attack to undermine a criminal investigation into possible collusion with Russia that could reach the president.
At a Judiciary Committee hearing, Representative Louie Gohmert of Texas named FBI officials and asked the bureau's director, Christopher Wray, whether they've ever openly discussed a bias against the Trump administration. Several other Republicans questioned the integrity of at least one FBI official who worked for Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team investigating collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow.
The drama played out during a hearing in Washington Thursday in which Wray repeatedly defended the integrity of the FBI while withholding judgment on whether some officials might be found to have acted improperly. Wray said he had never heard any of the officials listed by Gohmert discussing an anti-Trump agenda.
“My experience with the FBI has been positive," said Wray, who took over the bureau in August after Trump fired its previous director James Comey in May. "I have enormous faith and confidence in the people who work there. I see example after example of fidelity, integrity and bravery.”
Republicans, led by Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, questioned whether bias in favor of former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton or against the president has crept into the high ranks of the FBI or Mueller's probe. Republicans questioned whether bias affected a now-closed probe of Clinton's use of a private email server.
"It does appear to me that, at the very least, the FBI's reputation as an impartial, non-political agency has been called into question recently," Goodlatte said.
January Report
Wray said if the Justice Department's inspector general finds any agents acted improperly in last year's Clinton investigation, they will be dealt with. The inspector general is expected to release findings in January.
“The handling of the investigation and, in particular, whether or not decisions made in that investigation were the product of any improper considerations, is precisely what the outside, independent inspector general is deciding," Wray said.
“We will not hesitate to hold people accountable after there's been an appropriate investigation," Wray said.
As Mueller's probe into ties between Trump's campaign and Russia moves forward, Republicans are focusing on potentially improper conduct by FBI agents, prosecutors or officials appointed by former President Barack Obama.
Representative Steve Chabot, an Ohio Republican, said “the depths of this anti-Trump bias on the Mueller team just goes on an on. It's absolutely shocking."
Text Messages
Republican criticism about Mueller's probe intensified following a recent revelation that a top FBI agent assigned to the special counsel's team allegedly sent anti-Trump texts last summer. Mueller removed the agent, Peter Strzok, after learning of the allegations.
Wray said the FBI is working with the Justice Department to review text messages allegedly sent between Strzok and other agents to determine if there is anything in them that's improper.
Wray said Strzok "was reassigned away from the special counsel's investigation, which is different than disciplinary action.”
Wray also disputed a tweet from Trump that the Federal Bureau of Investigation's reputation is in tatters.
‘Big Boys and Girls'
"The agents, analysts and staff of the FBI are big boys and girls," Wray said.
"We understand that we will take criticism from all corners and we are accustomed to that," Wray said. “My experience has been that our reputation is quite good.”
Goodlatte said the Judiciary Committee is seeking up to 1.2 million documents that have been provided to the Justice Department inspector general, with the exception of those that are part of a grand jury investigation. He said the department has said the documents will be provided by Jan. 15.
Goodlatte and Republican Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio also told Wray they want to see the original material that the FBI used to obtain a secret warrant to begin the counter-intelligence investigation into Trump's campaign and associates in July 2016.
Jordan said he believes the warrant was obtained based solely on a salacious anti-Trump dossier that was partly funded by Hillary Clinton's campaign.
Wray wouldn't commit to turning over the information.
To contact the reporters on this story: Chris Strohm in Washington at cstrohm1@bloomberg.net, Billy House in Washington at bhouse5@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Bill Faries at wfaries@bloomberg.net, Kevin Whitelaw at kwhitelaw@bloomberg.net, Justin Blum, Laurie Asséo
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