With respect to FAA Administrator Steve Dickson ...
I followed two congressional hearings with him, including his confirmation hearing in congress at the time. My take from that was that he said to have a strong 'flying' CV. But responding to congress members' questions (relating to the MAX) he answered that he had no 'design engineering' and no '(design engineering) certification' experience. Possible manufacturing engineering experience was not discussed but it appears he may not have any. The other 'MAX' witnesses did not have any either by the way.
Will be interesting in that light to follow the MAX certification hearing. He will surely have to lean heavily on the knowledge and experience of others.
Boeing has a 'history' with fuel tank explosions. Discussions about those are still going after many years. So 'surprising' that an issue like this, either static or lightning related, is added to that. And would be 'amazing' indeed, from not only a design engineering but also a manufacturing engineering point of view, if they have indeed proceeded to build wings without solid FAA authorisation.