Chris Wright, President-elect Trump's nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Energy, is planning to tell senators in charge of his confirmation that he will focus on restoring American "energy dominance" at home and abroad. 

Wright, a fossil fuel executive who in the past has been critical of the media blaming climate change for repeated wildfires, is expected to deliver his opening statement before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday morning. Fox News Digital obtained a copy of the statement in advance ahead of the hearing scheduled to start at 10 a.m. ET.

"I am humbled by the great responsibility this position holds," Wright is expected to say in his opening statement. "America has a historic opportunity to secure our energy systems, deliver leadership in scientific and technological innovation, steward our weapons stockpiles, and meet Cold War legacy waste commitments." 

Describing himself as a "science geek, turned tech nerd, turned lifelong energy entrepreneur," Wright will tell the committee how his "fascination with energy started at a young age in Denver, Colorado." His opening statement discusses how he enrolled at MIT "specifically to work on fusion energy" and later started graduate school at the University of California at Berkeley where he worked "on solar energy as well as power electronics."

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"Energy is the essential agent of change that enables everything that we do. A low energy society is poor. A highly energized society can bring health, wealth, and opportunity for all," Wright will say. "The stated mission of the company that I founded – Liberty Energy – is to better human lives through energy. Liberty works directly in oil, natural gas, next generation geothermal and has partnerships in next-generation nuclear energy and new battery technology." 

"Energy has been a lifelong passion of mine, and I have never been shy about that fact," Wright plans to tell the committee. "Then again, I have never been shy about much. President Trump shares my passion for energy and, if confirmed, I will work tirelessly to implement his bold agenda as an unabashed steward for all sources of affordable, reliable and secure American energy."

On Tuesday, committee Democrats led by Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico called for Wright's confirmation hearing to be delayed by at least a week, citing how they had not yet received "the standard financial disclosure report, ethics agreement, or the opinions from the designated agency ethics officer and the Office of Government Ethics stating that the nominee is in compliance with the ethics laws." 

Chairman Mike Lee, R-Utah, has already pushed back the confirmation hearing for Doug Burgum, Trump's pick for interior secretary, by two days until Thursday due to an OGE paperwork delay, but Wright's remained on the schedule Wednesday. 

If approved as secretary, Wright would manage energy policy and production in the United States, as well as the nation's nuclear weapon stockpile. He would also work with Burgum on the National Energy Council, where they would develop Trump's energy dominance policy involving increased production of U.S. oil and gas.

Wright has indicated that he plans to resign as CEO and chairman of his fracking company, Liberty Energy, if approved.

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In his opening statement, Wright identifies three "immediate" tasks that he would focus his attention on if confirmed.

"The first is to unleash American energy at home and abroad to restore energy dominance," Wright will say. "The security of our nation begins with energy. Previous administrations have viewed energy as a liability instead of the immense national asset that it is. To compete globally, we must expand energy production, including commercial nuclear and liquified natural gas, and cut the cost of energy." 

"Second, we must lead the world in innovation and technology breakthroughs," the statement continues. "Throughout my lifetime, technology and innovation have immeasurably enhanced the human condition. We must protect and accelerate the work of the Department’s national laboratory network to secure America’s competitive edge and its security. I commit to working with Congress on the important missions of the national laboratories." 

"Third, we must build things in America again and remove barriers to progress," Wright will say. "Federal policies today make it too easy to stop projects and very hard to start and complete projects. This makes energy more expensive and less reliable. President Trump is committed to lowering energy costs and to do so, we must prioritize cutting red tape, enabling private sector investments, and building the infrastructure we need to make energy more affordable for families and businesses." 

A man who federal prosecutors say runs a notorious Japanese organized crime syndicate pleaded guilty last week to conspiring to traffic nuclear materials to Iran and U.S. weapons abandoned in Afghanistan to Burma. 

Takeshi Ebisawa, the 60-year-old alleged leader of the Japanese yakuza, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday to conspiring with a network of associates to traffic nuclear materials, including uranium and weapons-grade plutonium, from Burma to other countries. He also pleaded guilty to international narcotics trafficking and weapons charges, the Justice Department announced. 

Acting U.S. Attorney Edward Y. Kim for the Southern District of New York said Ebisawa admitted that he "brazenly trafficked nuclear material, including weapons-grade plutonium, out of Burma," while at the same time, he worked to "send massive quantities of heroin and methamphetamine to the United States in exchange for heavy-duty weaponry such as surface-to-air missiles to be used on battlefields in Burma and laundered what he believed to be drug money from New York to Tokyo." 

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had been investigating Ebisawa since at least 2019, according to court documents and evidence presented in court. 

During the course of the probe, federal prosecutors say Ebisawa unwittingly introduced an undercover DEA agent who was posing as a narcotics and weapons trafficker to his international network of criminal associates, which spanned Japan, Thailand, Burma, Sri Lanka, and the United States, among other places, "for the purpose of arranging large-scale narcotics and weapons transactions." 

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The superseding indictment alleges Ebisawa and his network, including his co-defendants, negotiated multiple narcotics and weapons transactions with that undercover agent. 

Ebisawa conspired to broker the purchase of U.S.-made surface-to-air missiles, as well as other heavy-duty weaponry, intended for "multiple ethnic armed groups in Burma," including the unidentified leader of "an ethnic insurgent group," according to federal prosecutors. He also allegedly negotiated a deal to accept large quantities of heroin and methamphetamine for distribution as partial payment for the weapons. 

"Ebisawa understood the weapons to have been manufactured in the U.S. and taken from U.S. military bases in Afghanistan," the DOJ said. "Ebisawa planned for the heroin and methamphetamine to be distributed in the New York market." 

In a separate transaction, he also allegedly conspired to sell 500 kilograms of methamphetamine and 500 kilograms of heroin to the undercover agent for distribution in New York, prosecutors say. 

Ebisawa was also accused of working to launder $100,000 in purported narcotics proceeds from the U.S. to Japan.

Beginning in early 2020, court documents say Ebisawa informed the undercover agent and a DEA confidential source that he had access to a large quantity of nuclear materials that he wanted to sell. 

Later that year, Ebisawa allegedly sent the undercover agent a series of photos "depicting rocky substances with Geiger counters measuring radiation," as well as purported lab analyses indicating the presence of thorium and uranium, court documents say. At Ebisawa's urging, the undercover agent agreed to help him broker the sale of his nuclear materials to an associate who was posing as an Iranian general for use in a nuclear weapons program, according to the Justice Department. 

Prosecutors say Ebisawa then offered to supply the supposed Iranian general with "plutonium" that would be even "better" and more "powerful" than uranium for this purpose. 

With two other co-conspirators, Ebisawa allegedly proposed to the undercover agent that the Burma insurgent group leader sell uranium to the supposed Iranian general, through Ebisawa, to fund the group's weapons purchase.

On a Feb. 4, 2022, video call, one of Ebisawa's co-conspirators allegedly told the undercover DEA agent and the Burma insurgent group leader that he had available more than 2,000 kilograms of Thorium-232 and more than 100 kilograms of uranium in the compound U3O8 – a compound of uranium commonly found in the uranium concentrate powder known as "yellowcake," according to court documents. 

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He allegedly claimed he could produce as much as five tons of nuclear materials in Burma. They had several meetings in Southeast Asia to discuss their ongoing transactions, prosecutors say. 

During one of these meetings, one of Ebisawa's co-conspirators showed the undercover agent in a Thailand hotel room two plastic containers each holding a powdery yellow substance which he described as nuclear samples of "yellowcake." 

He allegedly said one container held a sample of uranium in the compound U3O8, and the other container held Thorium-232.

The samples were seized with the assistance of Thai authorities and subsequently transferred to the custody of U.S. law enforcement. 

The DOJ said a nuclear forensic laboratory in the U.S. examined the samples and determined that both samples contained detectable quantities of uranium, thorium, and plutonium. "In particular, the laboratory determined that the isotope composition of the plutonium found in the nuclear samples is weapons-grade, meaning that the plutonium, if produced in sufficient quantities, would be suitable for use in a nuclear weapon," prosecutors added. 

Ebisawa had been jailed in Brooklyn since his April 2022 arrest during a DEA sting operation that resulted in international drug and weapons charges. A superseding indictment was brought against him last February. 

On Wednesday, Ebisawa pleaded guilty to six counts. The two counts of narcotics importation conspiracy carry a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison. The other charges he admitted to are conspiracy to commit international trafficking of nuclear materials, international trafficking of nuclear materials, conspiracy to possess firearms, including machine guns and destructive devices, and money laundering. 

Ebisawa's guilty plea "should serve as a stark reminder to those who imperil our national security by trafficking weapons-grade plutonium and other dangerous materials on behalf of organized criminal syndicates that the Department of Justice will hold you accountable to the fullest extent of the law," Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division said in a statement.

DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said the investigation into Ebisawa and his associates "exposed the shocking depths of international organized crime from trafficking nuclear materials to fueling the narcotics trade and arming violent insurgents."