FBI anti-Trump textter takes to Capitol Hill

Peter Strzok, the FBI agent whose anti-Trump texts have spawned months of conspiracy theories about deep state plots to overthrow the president, will eventually tell lawmakers his point of view on Wednesday.

The counterintelligence veteran who helped launch the FBI's Russian probe in 2016 has become the bogeyman of the Trump universe, portrayed as the original witch hunter in the illegitimate investigation into the Trump campaign contacts with Russian officials.

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Trump stalks regularly on Twitter about Strzok – labeling On Monday, Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, demanded that Strzok be jailed for his actions. On the Capitol, Trump's allies insisted that Strzok – who was also at the heart of the FBI's private investigation on private e-mail use by Hillary Clinton – personally explained thousands of messages revealed by a DOJ watchdog.

On Wednesday, several lawmakers will have the opportunity to hear this explanation. Strzok will appear at 10 am for an in camera interview with the Judiciary and House Oversight Committees as part of a Republican-led survey on the conduct of the FBI and the Department of Justice in 2016 .

"Peter Strzok … hated Donald Trump," tweeted MP Mark Meadows (NC), one of Congress's most outspoken critics on Strzok. "How was this allowed?" How is Peter Strzok still employed at the FBI?

But the Democrats will not let their counterparts crack down in the interview. They want to give Strzok a chance to add context and explain that he was only one member of a complex team – not the omnipotent force behind the Russian probe. In addition, they intend to ask for details about pro-Trump prejudices in other FBI factions to emphasize the fact that the office was not just a hotbed of anti-Trump rage .

"It will not be an honest hearing," said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), One of the few lawmakers who will have to question Strzok. "This is going to be the Republicans once again trying to prove that his bias alone colored the entire investigation not only in Hillary Clinton, but the ongoing investigation by Mueller into the connections Russian. "

The hearing may be the first of several appearances in Congress for Strzok. Bob Goodlatte, chair of the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives, said that he intended to offer Mr. Strzok the opportunity to testify publicly, what Mr. Trump asked for and several democrats too.

Wednesday's meeting will also offer only a few lawmakers – members of a task force tasked with the joint investigation of commissions – to ask questions. These members include Goodlatte, Chair of the Oversight Committee, Trey Gowdy, and the best House Democrats, including representatives Jerry Nadler and Elijah Cummings, among others.

Strzok was originally scheduled to appear in a subpoena filing style interview published by Goodlatte on Friday, but the committees eventually negotiated a voluntary appearance that will include a more complete involvement of lawmakers.

For now, the public knows Strzok extensively through its texting, thousands of exchanges with former FBI attorney Lisa Page while both have had an affair in 2016 and 2017. Both have blasted Trump as "disgusting" and predicted that he would not become president. In the most astonishing exchange, Strzok told Page that Trump would not become president because "we will stop him".

Strzok played a central role in investigating the use of private email by Hillary Clinton during her tenure as secretary of state before moving on to the investigation of Russia. And he even briefly joined the team of Special Adviser Robert Mueller, when the former FBI director was tapped to continue the Russian probe last year, before Mueller did it. removes after the anti-Trump texts have surfaced.

While Inspector General Michael Horowitz of the DOJ concluded that Strzok's personal beliefs did not affect the major decisions of the Clinton inquiry, he is still seeking to know whether Strzok's political views were excluded from the Russian decision.

Shortly after the release of the report, Mr. Strzok was escorted from his FBI office and his security clearance was suspended, according to reports.

Strzok's lawyer, Aitan Goelman, gave a preview of his client's counter-attack. Goelman notes that Strzok sometimes advocated more aggressive tactics against Clinton than his peers eventually chose.

"While experts and politicians use this question to advance their agendas, the truth about the character and professionalism of Special Agent Strzok lies in the fact that every witness asked by the [inspector general] said that Strzok's work has never been influenced by political opinions, "said Goelman.

Goelman also rejected Horowitz 's finding that the bias could be at the origin of Strzok' s decision to give priority to the Russian investigation at the end of 2016, which the report of the Inspector General.

"[W]Special Agent Strzok openly admitted that he thought that the Russian investigation was far more important to US national security than the Clinton inquiry, this conclusion is proof of the lucidity of the United States. Special agent Strzok and not his bias, "said Goelman.

The Trump allies will certainly focus on specific text messages in which Strzok made ambiguous remarks about the Russian probe – as when he described it as an "insurance policy" in the event that Trump would be elected. join the Mueller team.

Many Trump supporters allege that Strzok was behind a plan to muzzle the FBI's Clinton inquiry and pivot on the Trump-Russia investigation that hindered and distracted the president during his first two years in power.

After the report of the Inspector General, other Republicans – even those who sometimes broke up with Trump – raised questions about the validity of the investigations in which Strzok participated.

Strzok's bias "was so pervasive and poisonous that he questioned any other investigation he belonged to, including his role in investigating what Russia did in 2016," said Gowdy. after the publication of Horowitz's report. Gowdy has notably defended Mueller and other aspects of the FBI's investigation amid criticism from Trump's allies.

Other supporters of the FBI and Democrats rejected the idea of ​​Strzok, calling this cynical attempt to weaken Mueller, whose investigation into the campaign and Trump's leadership has become a reality. growing threat to the president's inner circle.