Ex-FBI agent Strzok sues over his firing

WASHINGTON — A veteran FBI agent who wrote derogatory text messages about Donald Trump filed a lawsuit Tuesday alleging that the bureau caved to “unrelenting pressure” from the president when it fired him.

The suit from Peter Strzok also alleges that he was unfairly punished for expressing his political opinions and that the U.S. Justice Department violated his privacy when it shared hundreds of his text messages with reporters.

“This campaign to publicly vilify Special Agent Strzok contributed to the FBI’s ultimate decision to unlawfully terminate him,” the lawsuit says, “as well as to frequent incidents of public and online harassment and threats of violence to Strzok and his family that began when the texts were first disclosed to the media and continue to this day.”

The lawsuit seeks Strzok’s reinstatement to the FBI, back pay and a declaration that the government violated his rights.

The complaint, which names as defendants Attorney General William Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray, revisits a political drama that was seized on by conservative critics of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation as proof that the bureau was biased against Trump. It provides new details about the circumstances of Strzok’s firing and comes months after a congressional hearing in which he insisted that his personal views never influenced his work.

Multiple investigations are underway examining whether the FBI acted properly during the Russia investigation, and Strzok remains a frequent target of Trump’s scornful tweets.

Spokesmen for the FBI and the Justice Department declined to comment on Strzok’s lawsuit.