Veteran FBI agent Peter Strzok called President Trump an “idiot” and “enormous douche” in text messages he exchanged with an FBI lawyer.
An FBI agent was removed from special counsel Robert Mueller’s team for calling President Trump an “idiot” and “enormous douche” in text messages he exchanged with an FBI lawyer.
Veteran FBI counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok exchanged the messages with lawyer Lisa Page in the run-up to the 2016 presidential elections and continued criticizing Trump while they were both privy to the Russia probe.
Strzok, who led the FBI investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server before he worked on Mueller’s team, was removed during the summer and reassigned. Page had already concluded her detail on the Russia probe by the time the messages emerged.
Despite his removal, the text messages provided a line of attack for Trump, who seized on the revelations to bash the FBI. Conservatives have also argued Mueller’s team is biased.
Among the 375 messages was one conversation on March 4,2016 when Page called Trump a “loathsome human,” to which Strzok responded, “Yet he may win.”
After Strzok asks whether she thinks Trump would be a worse president than fellow Republican Ted Cruz, Page says, “Yes, I think so.”
The two then use words like “idiot” and “awful” to characterize Trump, with Strzok saying, “America will get what the voting public deserves.”
In July, Strzok wrote, “She just has to win now. I’m not going to lie, I got a flash of nervousness yesterday about Trump,” according to the New York Times.
In another exchange, on Oct. 18,2016, Strzok writes to Page and says: “I am riled up. Trump is an (expletive) idiot, is unable to provide a coherent answer. I CAN’T PULL AWAY. WHAT THE (expletive) HAPPENED TO OUR COUNTRY??!?!”
Weeks later, on election day, as it seemed to become clearer that Trump could defeat Clinton, he says, “OMG THIS IS (expletive) TERRIFYING: A victory by Mr. Trump remains possible…”
Page replies, “Yeah, that’s not good.”
In August 2016, Strzok responded to a New York Times story that carried the headline of “Donald Trump is Making America Meaner” by saying, “I am worried about what Trump is encouraging in our behavior.”
But he also adds, “I’m worried about what happens if HRC is elected,” using the initials for Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Justice Department inspector general Michael e. Horowitz was investigating the FBI’s inquiry into Democrat Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server when the text messages surfaced.
They were turned over to congressional committees Tuesday and reviewed by the Associated Press.
FBI agents are allowed to express opinions as private individuals, and officials who worked directly with Strzok said there were no indications of bias, the Times reported.
With News Wire Services.
