Peter Strzok, a top FBI counterintelligence agent who exchanged anti-Trump messages with his mistress, had a personal relationship with the federal judge who recused himself from overseeing former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s case last year, according to a new report.
The relationship between Strzok and U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras, who was appointed to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, was disclosed in text messages between Strzok and FBI attorney Lisa Page, and obtained by Fox News.
“Rudy is on the FISC! Did you know that?” Page said in a text to Strzok in July 2016. “Just appointed two months ago.”
“I did,” Strozk said in response. “We talked about it before and after. I need to get together with him.”
The two also discussed how Strzok needed to be careful about what he discussed with Contreras to avoid putting him “into a situation where he’d have to recuse himself.”
Page said she couldn’t “imagine either one of your could talk about anything in detail meaningful enough to warrant recusal.”
“Standards for recusal are quite high,” she added. “I just don’t think this poses an actual conflict. And he doesn’t know what you do?
“Generally he does know what I do,” Strzok said in response. “Not the level or scope area. But he’s super thoughtful and rigorous about ethics and conflicts.”
Strzok’s job as a counterintelligence agent meant that he interacted with the FISC on a regular basis and the messages reveal that Strzok and Contreras both made appearances at a recent “graduation party.”
On Dec. 1, 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty before Contreras for making misleading statements to the FBI about his Russian contacts as part of Mueller’s ongoing Russia probe. Strzok also served on Mueller’s inquiry team for a period of time, before being demoted after it was found that he exchanged text messages that were critical of President Trump.
As a result, it is possible Strzok participated in discussions where Flynn was blamed with making disingenuous statements.
The day after Flynn’s guilty plea, reports emerged detailing Strzok’s text messages with Page, and on Dec. 7 Contreras recused himself from the case without providing a reason.
“That explains why he recused himself,” former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia Joe DiGenova said, according to Fox News. “He knew he was a friend of Strzok’s when the case came to him. He should allow Flynn to withdraw the guilty plea.”
Mueller’s team is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin.
