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With his nomination of Christopher Wray to become the next director of the FBI, President Trump has put Democrats in a bind and made opposition to the pick all but impossible.

A former federal prosecutor and longtime legal veteran Wray has impeccable credentials at least that's what the Senate believed in 2003. When President George W. Bush nominated Wray to become assistant attorney general, he was confirmed unanimously by voice vote.

That's why this is a smart pick for Trump. Not only has he nominated a candidate who could restore credibility to the FBI, he's forced the Left to fight an uphill battle. Should they protest, Democrats would have a hard time explaining why they were for Wray before they were against him.

The first case-in-point comes courtesy of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. After approving Wray 14 years ago and now the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Feinstein demurred Wednesday morning, telling reporters that the nominee "may be fine."

Asked the same question, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., did little better. The ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Warner could only doubt the timing of the nomination.

"There will be a time and place to review him," Warner said on CNN. "But it seems to me that this is an effort to try to take people's attention off what is going to be the main event, at least for the next two days: the leaders of our intelligence community and the FBI director."

Even if deliberate, the timing of Wray's nomination doesn't definitely qualify or disqualify him. Former FBI director James Comey's testimony tomorrow will do little to diminish or polish the resume of his old colleague.

Of course, a lot has changed since the last time Wray stood for confirmation. There are some vulnerabilities, like the somewhat unseemly fact that he defended New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie during the Bridgegate scandal. There's a lot to like though, specifically his leadership of the DOJ's Criminal Division where he oversaw investigations like the Enron Task Force.

Reading through Wray's resume, it seems that Trump took seriously the calls from both the Left and the Right for a nonpartisan and serious FBI director. Considering the fact that Wray has batted a thousand in Senate confirmations so far, this is a smart pick.

Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.

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Trump puts Democrats in a bind with his nomination of Christopher Wray for FBI - Washington Examiner