FBI agent who sent texts about Trump to testify

WASHINGTON» FBI Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok will testify before the House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform committees July 10, the first time the embattled Justice Department official will speak in a public forum about his involvement in the 2016 investigations into possible ties between Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia and Hillary Clinton’s private email server.

Republicans in Congress have railed against Strzok for months after an extensive series of texts from 2016 between Strzok and his mistress, lawyer Lisa Page, emerged in which the FBI agent said “we’ll stop” a Trump presidency.

Strzok was heavily involved in the Trump campaign and Clinton email investigations.

The Department of Justice Inspector General concluded in a report released earlier this month that officials at the DOJ committed numerous indiscretions over the course of the 2016 Trump campaign investigation.

But DOJ IG Michael Horowitz “did not find documentary or testimonial evidence that improper considerations, including political bias, directly affected those specific investigative decisions,” he told the committee June 19.

Strzok faced questions from the Judiciary Committee behind closed doors last week. Strzok and his legal team are furious at Republicans on the committee for leaking his testimony to the press, saying lawmakers twisted and framed his words to make him sound guilty of wrongdoing, CNN reported Monday.