President Trump praised the FBI Monday following its firing of agent Peter Strzok, who had worked on the investigations into his campaign as well as Hillary Clinton’s email server, saying the probe into potential collusion with Russia should end but the one into his 2016 opponent ought to be reopened.
“Agent Peter Strzok was just fired from the FBI — finally. The list of bad players in the FBI & DOJ gets longer & longer. Based on the fact that Strzok was in charge of the Witch Hunt, will it be dropped? It is a total Hoax. No Collusion, No Obstruction — I just fight back!” Trump wrote on Twitter Monday afternoon. “Just fired Agent Strzok, formerly of the FBI, was in charge of the Crooked Hillary Clinton sham investigation. It was a total fraud on the American public and should be properly redone!”
Agent Peter Strzok was just fired from the FBI – finally. The list of bad players in the FBI & DOJ gets longer & longer. Based on the fact that Strzok was in charge of the Witch Hunt, will it be dropped? It is a total Hoax. No Collusion, No Obstruction – I just fight back!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 13, 2018
Just fired Agent Strzok, formerly of the FBI, was in charge of the Crooked Hillary Clinton sham investigation. It was a total fraud on the American public and should be properly redone!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 13, 2018
Strzok’s lawyer, Aitan Goelman, announced Monday the FBI fired the agent last Friday following months of Trump’s demanding the probe be closed due to what he described as bias among Justice Department personnel tasked with investigating his team.
Publicly released phone records had shown Strzok was engaged in an extramarital affair with female colleague Lisa Page and had told her he would not let Trump win the election.
Previously, the FBI had decided to demote Strzok and suspend him for 60 days.
Goelman called his client’s termination “deeply troubling.”
“Special Agent Strzok has proved himself to be one of the country’s top counterintelligence officers, leading to only one conclusion — the decision to terminate was taken in response to political pressure, and to punish Special Agent Strzok for political speech protected by the First Amendment, not on a fair and independent examination of the facts,” Goelman wrote in a statement.
