FBI agent Strzok, who criticized Trump in text messages, is fired
Peter Strzok, the FBI agent who came under fire from US President Donald Trump and other Republicans for sending text messages that disparaged the candidate during the presidential campaign, was fired late on Friday, his attorney said on Monday.
Strzok is the third high-ranking person to be fired from the Federal Bureau of Investigation during the Trump administration, including former director James Comey. During his FBI career, Strzok rose to deputy assistant director, focusing on counter-intelligence.
After Justice Department internal investigators found the texts, Strzok was reassigned from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the Trump campaign. The firing came after a lengthy internal investigation.
Strzok’s attorney, Aitan Goelman, said in a statement that FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich made the decision to terminate his client.
The decision, Goelman said, was at odds with a recommendation by the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) that called for a 60-day suspension and demotion from supervisory responsibilities.
He also said it went against promises that FBI Director Christopher Wray made in the past about adhering to proper processes.
The FBI said in a statement it had followed its standard review and disciplinary process after the inspector general referred the Strzok case to OPR.
“OPR reviewed the investigative materials, as well as the written and oral responses of Mr. Strzok and his counsel, and issued OPR’s decision. The deputy director, as the senior career FBI official, has the delegated authority to review and modify any disciplinary findings... as deemed necessary,” the statement said.
Goelman said that normally FBI personnel can appeal such decisions to a five-person review board, but the appeals step was bypassed in Strzok’s case.
Trump took to Twitter after the news broke Monday.
“Agent Peter Strzok was just fired from the FBI-finally,” wrote Trump, who had called for Strzok’s ouster before.