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"Never in any of these texts have these personal beliefs entered into the realm of my actions," said Strzok. "The suggestion that I am in a dark room somewhere within the FBI would in one way or another dismiss all these procedures, all those guarantees, and somehow be able to do that is staggering for me – it just could not happen. " 19659002] But Republicans accused Strzok's writings of proving that he had gone to dismiss Clinton and sue Donald Trump, telling him of the messages he had exchanged with FBI agent Lisa Page, who sent him away from the team of Special Adviser Robert Mueller. 19659003] "The moment when Special Advisor Bob Mueller discovered the text and emails of Peter Strzok, he expelled him from the investigation," said Trey Gowdy, chairman of the House Oversight Committee , a Republican from South Carolina. "But it was a year and a half too late, the text and emails may have been discovered in May 2017, but the bias existed and was already manifesting a year and a half before the end of 2015 and early 2016. This "It is therefore not the discovery of texts that caused him to be fired, it is the obvious bias in these texts that rendered him unfit to investigate objectively and impartially."
Thursday's hearing, Strzok's first public appearance since He became a central figure in the Russian investigation, highlighting the deep tensions on Capitol Hill over the FBI's investigations related to the 2016 elections.
President and his allies quoted texts between Strzok and former FBI agent Lisa Page as proof that M's investigation ueller is skewed against the president, and Trump tweeted about Strzok several times in the run-up to Thursday's hearing
Bob Goodlatte The Speaker of the House of Commons, struggled to keep control of the crowded courtroom, which had more than 70 members between the Judiciary and Oversight Committees.
Goodlatte Threatened Strzok In Contempt The Democrats loudly opposed Goodlatte's attempts to force Strzok to answer Gowdy's first question about the number of witnesses questioned in the early days of the day. investigation of Russia
Strzok. said that he was ordered by the FBI's lawyer not to answer questions about an ongoing investigation, but Goodlatte demanded that he respond to Gowdy's question, which provoked a long delay before Strzok asks to speak to the FBI's general counsel
"Only with your own advice," replied Goodlatte.
"Mr. President, there is no reason for that," protested senior Democratic magistrate Rep Jerry Nadler of New York. "He can consult FBI lawyers, he is an employee of the FBI. "
"
"And the president is not correct," replied Nadler
Gowdy was interrupted several times during the rest of his questions, while he and Strzok exchanged a heated exchange
Strzok argued that Mueller did not remove him from his team because of the bias, but because of the perception that the texts created.
"I tell you that I did not understand that he sent me back because of any prejudice according to which appearance," said Strzok. "If you want to represent what you have said with precision, I am happy to answer this question, but I do not appreciate what was originally said to be changed. "
" I m crazy you enjoy the agent Strzok , "replied Gowdy." I do not appreciate having an FBI agent with an ever increasing level of animus on two major investigations during the year 2016.
Strzok sought to explain his texts, including when he said to theTrump's "We'll Stop" page, which he said was written in response to Trump's attacks on a The Gold Star family during the 2016 campaign.
"My presumption, based on this horrible and disgusting behavior that the American people would not elect anyone who demonstrates this behavior to be the president of the United States, "Strzok said. "This was by no means, unequivocally, any suggestion that I, the FBI, were taking any steps to improperly influence the electoral process, for any candidate."
For a brief moment, lawmakers came up with the idea that Strzok He was summoned for an in camera interview on Wednesday, but he challenged the summons, saying that she was not going to Had not had enough time to appear.
Strzok attends the public hearing after being summoned to appear last week. His lawyer argued that the public hearing is an attempt by Republicans to "trap" Strzok, and they urged the Republicans of the committee to release the transcript of his in camera interview.
Prior to the hearing, Nadler and Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the highest Democrat of the House Oversight Committee, issued Wednesday a statement on the agenda of Republicans' questions posed to Strzok, including questions about his extramarital affair with Page and his vote in 2016.
is a political charade – a platform for raising far-right conspiracy theories and undermining the criminal investigation the special adviser on the president and his campaign aides, "said Nadler and Cummings in this statement
of the hearing, defending the inquiry of his committee.
" For my colleagues on the other side of the House, please replace the name of President Trump by your own name in a small sample of what Mr. Strzok said, "he said.
put updated and will continue to update during the gameday hearing i with additional developments.
