Peter Strzok, the F.B.I. senior
counterintelligence agent who disparaged President Trump in inflammatory text
messages and helped oversee the Hillary Clinton email and Russia
investigations, has been fired for violating bureau policies, Mr. Strzok’s
lawyer said Monday.
Mr. Trump and his allies seized on
the texts — exchanged during the 2016 campaign with a former F.B.I. lawyer,
Lisa Page — in assailing the Russia investigation as an illegitimate “witch
hunt.” Mr. Strzok, who rose over 20 years at the F.B.I. to become one of its
most experienced counterintelligence agents, was a key figure in the early
months of the inquiry.
Along with writing the texts, Mr.
Strzok was accused of sending a highly sensitive search warrant to his personal
email account.The F.B.I. had been under immense political pressure by Mr. Trump
to dismiss Mr. Strzok, who was removed last summer from the staff of the special
counsel, Robert S. Mueller III. The president has repeatedly denounced Mr.
Strzok in posts on Twitter, and on Monday expressed satisfaction that he had
been sacked.
Mr. Trump’s victory traces back to
June, when Mr. Strzok’s conduct was laid out in a wide-ranging inspector
general’s report on how the F.B.I. handled the investigation of Hillary
Clinton’s emails in the run-up to the 2016 election. The report was critical of
Mr. Strzok’s conduct in sending the texts, and the bureau’s Office of
Professional Responsibility said that Mr. Strzok should be suspended for 60
days and demoted. Mr. Strzok had testified before the House in July about how
he had not allowed his political views to interfere with the investigations he
was overseeing.
But Mr. Strzok’s lawyer said the
deputy director of the F.B.I., David Bowdich, had overruled the Office of
Professional Responsibility and fired Mr. Strzok.
A spokeswoman for the F.B.I. did
not respond to a message seeking comment about why Mr. Strzok was dismissed
rather than demoted. Firing Mr. Strzok, however, removes a favorite target of
Mr. Trump from the ranks of the F.B.I. and gives Mr. Bowdich and the F.B.I.
director, Christopher A. Wray, a chance to move beyond the president’s ire.
Aitan Goelman, Mr. Strzok’s
lawyer, denounced his client’s dismissal. “The decision to fire Special Agent
Strzok is not only a departure from typical bureau practice, but also
contradicts Director Wray’s testimony to Congress and his assurances that the
F.B.I. intended to follow its regular process in this and all personnel
matters,” Mr. Goelman said.
“This decision should be deeply
troubling to all Americans,” Mr. Goelman added. “A lengthy investigation and
multiple rounds of congressional testimony failed to produce a shred of
evidence that Special Agent Strzok’s personal views ever affected his work.”
Mr. Strzok’s text exchanges with
Ms. Page demonstrated animosity toward Mr. Trump. In one, Ms. Page asks: Trump
is “not ever going to become president, right? Right?!” Mr. Strzok responds:
“No. No he won’t. We’ll stop it.” The inspector general, who uncovered the
messages, found no evidence that the pair imposed their political views on
their investigative decisions but cited that exchange as “not only indicative
of a biased state of mind but, even more seriously, implies a willingness to
take official action to impact the presidential candidate’s electoral
prospects.”
The report by the inspector
general, Michael E. Horowitz, that preceded Mr. Strzok’s firing not only
criticized his conduct in sending the texts but also his use of personal email
accounts to handle sensitive information. In addition, the inspector general
criticized Mr. Strzok’s decision not to move swiftly to examine new emails
related to the Clinton investigation just weeks before the 2016 election.
Mr. Horowitz said in his report
that he was “deeply troubled” by the text messages. Hundreds exchanged over
months were found in which the pair disparaged Mr. Trump and, to a lesser
extent, Mrs. Clinton, exchanged work gossip and bantered.
On Twitter, Mr. Strzok said he was
“deeply saddened by this decision,” adding, “It has been an honor to serve my
country and work with the fine men and women of the FBI.”
Mr. Strzok became emblematic of
Mr. Trump’s unfounded assertions that a so-called deep state of bureaucrats
opposed to him was undermining his presidency. Mr. Trump contended that Mr.
Strzok targeted the president and accused Mr. Strzok of being “treasonous” and
a “disgrace.” Mr. Strzok told lawmakers that he never leaked information about
the Russia inquiry, which could have upended the election and hurt Mr. Trump’s
chances of becoming president.In a heated congressional hearing last month, Mr.
Strzok expressed “significant regret” for the texts and rebutted the
president’s attacks on the Russia inquiry. “This investigation is not
politically motivated; it is not a witch hunt; it is not a hoax,” he said.
Mr. Strzok’s dismissal was not
unexpected. He is the second senior F.B.I. agent to be fired as a result of the
inspector general’s investigation. In March, Andrew G. McCabe, the former
deputy director, was fired after the inspector general repeatedly faulted him
for misleading investigators.
The firing was politically
motivated, Mr. McCabe has said, as an effort to discredit him as a witness in
the special counsel investigation.
Both men were fired before they
were eligible for their pension and health benefits.
Mr. Strzok, 48, a graduate of
Georgetown University, served as an officer in the Army before he joined the
F.B.I. He held several key positions in the F.B.I., eventually becoming a top
deputy in the counterintelligence division.
He handled many important
espionage cases including one involving a former C.I.A. officer suspected of
working for China and a group of Russian spies who had been working undercover
in the United States.
0 comments
Post a Comment