FBI agent Strzok, who criticized Trump in
text messages, is fired
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[August 14, 2018]
By Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Peter Strzok, the
FBI agent who came under fire from 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 counterintelligence.
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 added, was at odds with a recommendation by the
FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility, which had called for Strzok
to face a 60-day suspension and demotion from his supervisory
responsibilities.
He also said it went against promises that FBI Director Christopher Wray
made in the past about adhering to proper processes on personnel
matters.
The FBI said in a statement it had followed its standard review and
disciplinary process after the inspector general referred the Strzok
case to the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility.
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"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.
Strzok's attorney Goelman, however, said that normally FBI personnel can
appeal such decisions to a five-person review board. Goelman said the
appeals step was bypassed in Strzok's case and the FBI did not follow
the normal course afforded to other FBI agents.
Trump took to Twitter not long after the news broke on Monday.
"Agent Peter Strzok was just fired from the FBI-finally," wrote Trump,
who had called for Strzok's ouster before.
"The list of bad players in the FBI & DOJ gets longer & longer."
A post under a newly created Twitter account under Strzok's name said he
was "deeply saddened" by the decision to fire him.
The post also linked to a GoFundMe page, which had raised more than
$48,700 toward a $150,000 goal as of late Monday.
"All funds raised on this GoFundMe will be put into a trust dedicated to
covering Pete’s hefty – and growing – legal costs and his lost income,"
the fundraising website says.
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![](../images/081418pics/news_v37.jpg)
FBI Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok is seated prior to
testifying before House Committees on the Judiciary and Oversight &
Government Reform joint hearing on "Oversight of FBI and DOJ Actions
Surrounding the 2016 Election” in Washington, U.S., July 12, 2018.
REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo
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Goelman said that his client's firing was politically motivated and that
his texts represented political speech protected by the First Amendment.
'RUSSIA THING'
In March, Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired FBI Deputy Director
Andrew McCabe after a scathing report by the Justice Department's
internal watchdog concluded he had leaked information to reporters and
misled investigators about his actions.
Comey was fired by Trump in May 2017 after Deputy Attorney General Rod
Rosenstein helped write a memo that was critical of how Comey handled
the FBI's probe into then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's use of a
private email server for official business.
Later, however, Trump claimed he fired Comey over that "Russia thing,"
apparently referring to the FBI probe into whether his presidential
campaign colluded with Russia. Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion
and called the investigation a witch hunt.
Both Comey and McCabe said, however, they believe they were fired
because they are key witnesses in Special Counsel Mueller's probe into
whether Trump may have tried to obstruct the investigation.
Strzok was deeply involved in the FBI's Clinton email investigation and
was temporarily assigned to Mueller's office. He was removed from that
post after his texts came to light.
The texts were criticized by the Justice Department's inspector general
in a recent report that examined the FBI's handling of the Clinton email
probe. Republicans in Congress have repeatedly pointed to them as
evidence the FBI is biased against Trump.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe, Jonathan Oatis,
David Alexander and Cynthia Osterman)
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