Partisan quarrels engulf testimony
Questions to FBI agent pivot to Russia probe
WASHINGTON — A joint House hearing to question FBI agent Peter Stzrok quickly devolved into chaos as Republicans demanded he answer questions about the Russia investigation.
Peter Strzok, the veteran FBI counterintelligence official who sent critical texts about Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, pushed back angrily against Republican accusations Thursday that he was biased in his work, insisting that he never let his political views affect his investigations.
“Let me be clear, unequivocally and under oath: Not once in my 26 years of defending my nation did my personal opinions impact any official action I took,”
HEARING
Strzok told the House Judiciary and Oversight committees in a joint hearing that spanned 10 hours and was marked by harsh partisan sparring and sometimes fiery exchanges about his role.
Strzok added that during the 2016 campaign, he had information that “had the potential to derail and quite possibly defeat Trump. But the thought of exposing that information never crossed my mind.” He did not reveal the material.
With the politically charged session aired live on cable TV, lawmakers lined up to harangue Strzok or to defend him — at one point, more than 75 members wanted a turn at the microphone.
In his first public testimony since his anti-trump texts were disclosed last year, Strzok sat stiffly, held his chin high and struck a combative tone at times, even suggesting the Republican pummeling of the FBI lent tacit support to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to undermine U.S. democracy.
“Today’s hearing is just another victory notch in Putin’s belt and another milestone in our enemies’ campaign to tear America apart,” he said.
Strzok helped lead the FBI’S early investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential race and Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server when she was secretary of state.
Last year, he was reassigned from special counsel Robert Mueller’s team after it emerged he had exchanged private texts critical of Trump with Lisa Page, then an FBI attorney, during the campaign.
Neutrality questioned
Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-VA., chairman of the Judiciary Committee, questioned Strzok’s ability to remain neutral in the investigations given his texts with Page. “We don’t want to read text message after text message dripping with bias against one of the two presidential candidates,” Goodlatte said in his opening statement.
He added that the congressional inquiry “goes to the very heart of our system of justice,” which he said Strzok and others at the FBI and the Justice Department have turned “on its head.”
Strzok emphasized that he regretted that his private messages to Page had caused pain to his family. But he firmly countered accusations that they had revealed an improper bias. While every person has political opinions, he said, FBI agents are trained to leave theirs at the door.
House Democrats repeatedly accused Republicans of turning Strzok’s testimony into a “spectacle” and condemned attacks on his personal character.
At one point, Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-texas, told Strzok, “I can’t help but wonder when I see you looking there with a little smirk how many times did you look so innocent into your wife’s eyes … ”
Many Democrats gasped and shouted Gohmert down, yelling, “That is outrageous!” and “Shame on you!”
Reading several of Strzok’s text messages back to him, Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., accused Strzok of having an “unusual and largely self-serving” definition of bias.
“He thinks promising to stop someone he is supposed to be fairly investigating from ever becoming president isn’t bias,” Gowdy said.
“Strzok even talked about impeachment the day the special counsel was appointed,” he added. “That is prejudging guilt, prejudging punishment, and that is textbook bias.”
Agent testified earlier
Strzok testified on June 27 before the House Judiciary Committee and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in a closeddoor session that lasted over 11 hours. Last week, the Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena to bring him in for a second round of questioning, this time in a public hearing.
Strzok and Page allegedly had an extramarital affair during the presidential race. Page also worked on the FBI’S investigations of Russian election interference and Clinton’s emails.
At one point, Page texted Strzok, “(Trump’s) not ever going to become president, right? Right?!” Strzok replied, “No. No he won’t. We’ll stop it.” The text surfaced in a Justice Department inspector general report that was sharply critical of Strzok.
In a sharp exchange Thursday, Gowdy interrogated Strzok about the meaning of that text and why he was removed from Mueller’s investigation.
“It is not my understanding he kicked me off because of any bias,” but because of the appearance of one, Strzok said. “If you want to represent what you said accurately, I’m happy to answer that question. I don’t appreciate what was originally said being changed.”
“I don’t give a damn what you appreciate,” Gowdy shot back.
Strzok said he sent the text “late at night, off the cuff.”
The text message, Strzok said, was “a response to a series of events that included then-candidate Trump insulting the immigrant family of a fallen war hero and my presumption, based on that horrible, disgusting behavior, that the American population would not elect someone demonstrating that behavior to be the president of the United States.”
He added that it in “no way” suggested that he or the FBI would interfere with the electoral process for any candidate.
Page resigned from the FBI in May. An FBI spokesperson would not comment on Strzok’s employment status.
In the months since their text messages were disclosed, Strzok and Page have become targets of House Republicans and President Donald Trump, who have sought to portray the Mueller investigation as irreparably biased against the president.