Peter Strzok said Mueller never asked if anti-Trump bias influenced Russia investigation decisions

Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, tweeted out a screenshot of an exchange that appears in the 312-page transcript of Strzok’s private testimony in June 2018 in which the ex-agent said Mueller never asked if his biases had influenced any decisions in the Russia inquiry. Strzok was a lead investigator on the FBI’s Russia investigation and the subsequent special counsel investigation until August 2017 upon the discovery of text messages he sent Lisa Page, a former FBI lawyer with whom he was having an affair.

The explicitly negative opinions about Trump and praise of Hillary Clinton found in the texts have been at the epicenter of GOP concerns that the Mueller inquiry has been tainted by bias.

The line of inquiry highlighted by Ratcliffe shows him asking Strzok about an August 2016 text message he sent Page: “No. No he’s not. We’ll stop it.”

That was in response to a text from Page which said, “[Trump’s] not ever going to become president, right? Right?!”

Racliffe asked Strzok if Mueller or anyone on his team made any inquiry on whether the anti-Trump sentiment put on display in the text impacted any actions or decisions, including the collection of evidence, as part of the Russia investigation.

Strzok replied with one word: “No.”

Ratcliffe cited this exchange as being a damning oversight that will weigh heavily over the Mueller investigation, which appears to be winding down as key prosecutors are departing the team. “Did Peter Strzok’s hatred of Donald Trump influence the investigations and ‘evidence’ against Donald Trump? Guess we’ll never know,” Ratcliffe said in his tweet.

Strzok served in the special counsel’s office from late May 2017 until he was removed by Mueller in early August 2017. Strzok testified that he was a “senior leader” in the Russia investigation and a “lead agent” in the special counsel investigation and that he was involved with making decisions and supervising others.

Strzok acknowledged being involved in taking actions and making decisions regarding the gathering or collecting of evidence or information for the Russia investigation. But when asked if he was the one who opened the FBI’s Russia investigation, Strzok told the committee that he “can’t answer that in an unclassified setting.”

Strzok said he joined the special counsel investigation “in late spring of 2017,” just a few weeks after Mueller had been appointed as special counsel. Strzok was still leading the FBI’s Russia investigation at the time.

When Ratcliffe asked Strzok whether “the information or evidence that was gathered and collected as part of the Russia investigation, where you were making decisions and taking actions, whether any of that became part of the special counsel’s probe and consideration,” Strzok confirmed that was the case.

Strzok also described the “less than thirty-minute” meeting with himself, Mueller, and one other member of the special counsel’s office in which he was fired after his text messages with Page were discovered.

“We discussed generally the existence of the text messages,” Strzok said when asked about Mueller’s reasoning for letting him go.

Strzok said he remembered getting a sense during that meeting that Mueller “absolutely wanted to run an investigation that was not only independent but presented the appearance of independence, and the concern was that these texts might be construed otherwise. And that was the substance of it.”

The text messages between Strzok and Page were uncovered over the course of the Justice Department’s inspector general investigation into the DOJ and FBI conduct during investigation into Hillary Clinton’s unauthorized private email server, which she used while serving as secretary of state.

The IG report, released in June 2018, said their text messages “included political opinions about candidates and issues involved in the 2016 presidential election, including statements of hostility toward then candidate Trump and statements of support for candidate Clinton.” Also mentioned in the report was how the text messages “also appeared to mix political opinions with discussions about the Midyear and Russia investigations, raising a question as to whether Strzok’s and Page’s political opinions may have affected investigative decisions.”

Although that report was focused on the Clinton emails case, the IG did note: “We did not have confidence that Strzok’s decision to prioritize the Russia investigation over following up on the Midyear-related investigative lead discovered on the [Anthony] Weiner laptop was free from bias.”

The IG added: “In particular, we were concerned about text messages exchanged by FBI Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, Special Counsel to the Deputy Director, that potentially indicated or created the appearance that investigative decisions were impacted by bias or improper considerations. Most of the text messages raising such questions pertained to the Russia investigation, which was not a part of this review.”

The IG is also reviewing the Russia investigation, but has yet to release a report focused on it.

Strzok was fired from the FBI in August 2018. His involvement in the Clinton emails investigation and the Russia investigation, following the revelation of the texts, has become a major sticking point with Trump and his supporters as they condemn the inquiry as a “witch hunt.”

Newly revealed testimony from not only Strzok but also Page, who resigned from the FBI in May, have also raised questions about the FBI’s ability to conduct full and unhindered investigations.

Page’s July 2018 testimony before the House Judiciary and Oversight committees shows she was questioned about her texts with Strzok about an “insurance policy” against then-candidate Trump. Page admitted the texts were referring to the Russia investigation but said it was a “continuing check-in” to decide how quickly to proceed with the investigation based on the outcome of the election. Sen. Rand Paul reacted to this revelation, tweeting that it “deserves more attention.”

Other revelations shed light on the Obama-era Justice Department’s influence over the FBI’s handling of the Clinton emails investigation.

Strzok told Congress last year that the agency “did not have access” to Clinton Foundation emails that were on Hillary Clinton’s private server because of a consent agreement “negotiated between the Department of Justice attorneys and counsel for Clinton.”

The Page transcript revealed she testified last year that officials in the bureau, including then-FBI Director James Comey, discussed Espionage Act charges against Clinton, citing “gross negligence,” but the Justice Department shut them down.