Peter Strzok, the FBI counterintelligence agent removed from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, says he will voluntarily testify to Congressional investigators in the House Judiciary Committee and any other Congressional committee that asks, his attorney said in a letter released on Sunday after Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) threatened to Subpoena Strzok.
We were wondering what the seemingly new “who’s gonna play me in the movie” Strzok headshot was all about…
Peter Strzok, who was singled out in a recent Justice Department inspector general report for the politically charged messages, would be willing to testify without immunity, and he would not invoke his Fifth Amendment rights in response to any question, his attorney, Aitan Goelman, said in an interview Sunday. Strzok has become a special target of President Trump, who has used the texts to question the Russia investigation. –WaPo
The disgraced FBI agent “wants the chance to clear his name and tell his story,” says Goelman, adding “He thinks that his position, character and actions have all been misrepresented and caricatured, and he wants an opportunity to remedy that.”
No dates have been discussed yet for testimony, however Goelman called Goodlatte’s subpoena threat “wholly unnecessary.”
“Special Agent Strzok, who has been fully cooperative with the DOJ Office of Inspector General, intends to voluntarily appear and testify before your committee and any other Congressional committee that invites him,” wrote the Goelman, adding that Strzok “intends to answer any question put to him, and he intends to defend the integrity of the Clinton email investigation, the Russia collusion investigation to the extent that that’s a topic, and his own integrity.”
He said there was “no question” that Strzok regrets sending anti-Trump messages, but added: “I think what he was doing is expressing his political opinions in what he thought was a private text conversation, and he regrets that this has been weaponized by people with political motivations to try to discredit the Mueller investigation.” –WaPo
Strzok – who had a leadership role in both the Clinton and Trump investigations – was removed from the Special Counsel probe after the DOJ’s internal watchdog, Inspector General Michael Horowitz, discovered over 50,000 text messages between Strzok and his FBI attorney mistress, Lisa Page, which revealed anti-Trump / pro-Clinton bias, as well as an illicit affair the two were having.
It will be interesting to see how Strzok explains his way around a text exchange Page which reads:
Page: “(Trump’s) not ever going to become president, right? Right?!”
Strzok: “No. No he’s not. We’ll stop it.”
“Several FBI employees Who played critical roles in the investigation sent political messages,” IG report says.
It cites Lisa Page text to Peter Strzok: “(Trump’s) not ever going to become president, right? Right?!”
Strzok: “No. No he’s not. We’ll stop it.”
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) June 14, 2018
We can only imagine what Strzok will tell Congress… “Yes, I said all that but despite Lisa and I hating Trump with the burning intensity of 1,000 suns – none of that bias factored into our decision to exonerate Hillary while launching an international, multi-agency, ongoing operation against Donald Trump.”
Or “Russians hacked our cell phones and made Comey and I use personal email accounts for official government business while investigating Hillary Clinton for doing the same thing!”
Maybe Strzok can also explain his personal friendship with the original judge in the Mike Flynn case?
Strzok was one of two FBI investigators who took part in a January 24 interview of Gen. Michael Flynn – Trump’s brand new National Security Director. Flynn later pleaded guilty to a charge of providing false information to the FBI – which was supposed to be heard by judge Contreras on December 1, 2017.
We can’t wait for the leak of what will certainly be a closed-door testimony.
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