FBI agent: Opinion of Trump did not influence work
WASHINGTON – FBI Agent Peter Strzok, who exchanged anti-Trump text messages with his co-worker girlfriend, said Thursday that his political beliefs never affected his work on the Russia or Hillary Clinton investigations.
“Let me be clear, unequivocally and under oath: Not once in my 26 years of defending our nation did my personal opinions impact any official action I took,” Strzok testified before the House Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
“This is true for the Clinton email investigation, for the investigation into Russian interference and for every other investigation I’ve worked on,” Strzok said in a chamber packed with a standing-room-only crowd. “It is not who I am, and it is not something I would ever do. Period.”
Strzok helped lead the investigations into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election and into Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state. He was removed from the Russia inquiry by special coun- sel Robert Mueller last summer when Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz discovered texts between Strzok and former FBI attorney Lisa Page disparaging then-candidate Donald Trump in 2016.
Republicans used Thursday’s hearing to underscore their charges of bias by the FBI and Department of Justice against Trump and in favor of Clinton. Strzok denied that he was part of any conspiracy to go after Trump.
Democrats charged that Republicans were trying to undermine Mueller’s investigation of possible collusion between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign. Republicans want Mueller’s inquiry to end before the midterm elections in November. Democrats say Mueller should not be pressured to end his investigation prematurely.
Strzok said he never revealed information about the Russia investigation that could have damaged Trump’s campaign.
“There is ... one extraordinarily important piece of evidence supporting my integrity, the integrity of the FBI and our lack of bias,” Strzok said. “In the summer of 2016, I was one of a handful of people who knew the details of Russian election interference and its possible connections with members of the Trump campaign. This information had the potential to derail, and quite possibly defeat, Mr. Trump. But the thought of exposing that information never crossed my mind.’ ”
Strzok and Page were having an extramarital affair at the time they were texting.
Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, brought up the affair during one of the most heated parts of the hearing, asking Strzok whether he gave his wife the same “innocent” look he gave Congress members.
Democrats shouted Gohmert down. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., yelled, “You need your medication.”
“The fact that you would question whether or not that was the sort of look I would engage with at a family member that I have acknowledged hurting goes more to a discussion about your character and what you stand for and what is going on inside you,” Strzok said.
Strzok said he criticized Clinton, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and others in the text messages, as well as Trump. In response to a question from Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, Strzok conceded that it was “fair to say” that he and Page detested Trump and supported Clinton.
He acknowledged that his testimony was unlikely to satisfy his critics.
“After all, Americans are skeptical of anything coming out of Washington,” Strzok said. “But the fact is, after months of investigations, there is simply no evidence of bias in my professional actions.”
“Not once in my 26 years of defending our nation did my personal opinions impact any official action I took.” Peter Strzok FBI agent