Former FBI agent Peter Strzok thanked Americans who have shown him support since his abrupt firing from the bureau, as a fundraiser to help him with legal fees and lost income passed $250,000 in less than 24 hours.
“Stunned and humbled by the extraordinary outpouring of support already received from thousands of fellow everyday citizens taking time to fight for our country and our shared American ideals. Thank you,” he wrote in a tweet.
A website to crowdsource money to support the fired FBI agent was created Monday with an original goal of $150,000. The goal was moved to $350,000 by Tuesday as donations passed $250,000. More than 6,000 people had donated in less than 24 hours.
“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 trust is being created and details about its management will be shared here as things progress,” the page says.
Strzok was fired Friday from the bureau by FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich, Strzok’s lawyer Aitan Goelman announced Monday. Stzrok’s attorney said the dismissal “reversed” a previous personnel decision that the former special agent would only be demoted and possibly suspended for 60 days.
[Opinion: Peter Strzok is fired, and this former FBI agent is shedding no tears for him]
“This decision should be deeply troubling to all Americans. 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,” Goelman wrote in a statement.
Strzok played a leading role in the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server and Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. He was transferred to a human resources position in the bureau following a Justice Department inspector general investigation that revealed he sent disparaging texts about Trump to FBI lawyer Lisa Page, with whom he was having an affair. Republicans have argued the texts show Strzok was biased against the president.
Strzok has pushed back on those allegations, and the inspector general report found no proof that his views influenced the investigations.
