Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., asked Wray if he had been asked to give any sort of loyalty pledge from the White House.

“No one asked me for any sort of loyalty oath at any point during this process and I sure as heck didn’t offer one,” Wray said.

Graham, meanwhile, grilled Wray on how he would guide the department following recent high-profile events, including the June 2016 emails between Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, and acquaintance Rob Goldstone, a music publicist with ties to a prominent Russian oligarch.

Graham read out portions of the exchange, which Trump Jr. released publicly Tuesday, that show Goldstone arranging a meeting with a Russian lawyer promising “information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father” that was “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.”

Wray said he was not familiar with the details of Trump Jr.’s emails, which led to a June 9, 2016 meeting at the Trump Tower between Trump Jr., Goldstone and the Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya. Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and a current White House adviser and Paul Manafort, Trump’s then-campaign chair, also attended the meeting.

Graham then pressed Wray on whether the FBI should have been called prior to the meeting. Wray tried to side-step the question, prompting the senator to shoot back: “You’re going to be the director of the FBI pal, so here’s what I want you to tell every politician, if you get a call from somebody suggesting that a foreign government wants to help you to by disparaging your opponent, tell us all to call the FBI.”

Wray replied: “Any threat or effort to interfere with our elections … is the kind of thing the FBI wants to know.”

“That is a great answer,” Graham said.

Wray, a former federal prosecutor, was nominated by former President George W. Bush to led the justice department’s criminal division in 2003, where he worked closely with Comey. The Senate unanimously confirmed his nomination.

He left the department in 2005 and returned to private practice as a white-collar criminal defense attorney. He currently works for Spalding King, an Atlanta-based legal giant where he began his career in 1993. He also represented New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in the Bridgegate scandal.

As FBI director, Wray would be responsible for leading a team of more than 30,000 FBI employees scattered across 56 U.S. field offices.

He said Wednesday that he received word of his consideration after being contacted by phone by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein the day after Memorial Day, which was followed up with an in-person meeting at the White House with Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions and then meetings with other White House officials and President Trump.

“Both meetings were very conversational. It was more a get-to-know-you conversation,” he told senators.

“I would say I went into both meetings listening very carefully to make sure that I didn’t hear something that would make me uncomfortable. … If anything was said that made me uncomfortable I would not be sitting here today speaking in favor of my nomination,” he added.

Wray said during the conversations, the Russia investigation and Comey’s firing did not come up, except when Rosenstein mentioned Mueller was leading the investigation, which he said he believed would take pressure off the director role.

“I was very comfortable that I would be able to do my job,” he told the senators.

During and after the hearing, which lasted more than four hours, senators on both sides of the aisle offered glowing reviews of his testimony.

“Well, I’ll be very candid with you. I’m going to vote yes. I see him as being a good FBI director, how good the proof is always in the pudding,” said Feinstein. “I think in this man we have somebody who understands the process of justice who is committed to the appropriate and positive process.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Blumenthal also said they would support his nomination.

Klobuchar said Wray “had a lot of support here” and found his answers to remain independent and uphold the law “very compelling and heartfelt.”

Blumenthal said Wray would bring “guts and backbone” to the FBI.

Grassley, the Republican committee chair, said he expects to move the nomination quickly, but did not give a time frame.

“I think we can get this done very quickly even without the two additional weeks of session this summer,” he said.

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Microsoft wants to close the rural broadband gap with TV white spaces

Microsoft wants to improve rural broadband access by using TV white spaces spectrum, and eliminate the gap across the US over the next five years. Currently, in many rural parts of America you have to rely on poor cable connections, radio-powered modems, or even satellite technology to get access to the internet. The speeds are usually not adequate enough to even stream Netflix episodes, let alone browse the web properly.

Unused TV white spaces operating in the 600 MHz frequency range will be repurposed for Microsoft’s projects, and these frequencies have enough bandwidth to help deliver internet to thousands of homes. Microsoft is using it’s using previous experience deploying white spaces projects in 17 different countries to execute its ambitious plans. “At Microsoft, we’re prepared to invest our own resources to help serve as a catalyst for broader market adoption of this new model,” says Brad Smith, Microsoft’s chief legal officer. Microsoft is creating a Rural Airband Initiative that will invest in partnerships with telecommunications companies to create 12 projects in 12 states over the next 12 months.

“Our goal is not to enter the telecommunications business ourselves or even to profit directly from these projects,” explains Smith. “We will invest in the upfront capital projects needed to expand broadband coverage, seek a revenue share from operators to recoup our investment, and then use these revenue proceeds to invest in additional projects to expand coverage further. We’re confident that this approach is good for the country and even for our business. After all, if 23 million additional customers can access the internet at broadband speeds, every tech company in America will benefit.”

Microsoft is aiming to connect 2 million people with its own investments, and eventually helping partners serve more than 20 million people with rural broadband connections. Smith is now calling on the US government to help with the effort. Microsoft wants the FCC to ensure that at least three channels below 700 MHz are kept unlicensed in all markets in the US, with additional TV white spaces for even smaller markets and rural areas. Microsoft also wants to see increased funding with infrastructure investments targeted towards broadband coverage in rural areas and improved data collection for rural broadband coverage.

“As a country, we should not settle for an outcome that leaves behind more than 23 million of our rural neighbors,” explains Smith. “To the contrary, we can and should bring the benefits of broadband coverage to every corner of the nation. “

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