Former FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page were involved in a “coup” against President Trump, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarty, R-Calif., said.
Thousands of Strzok and Page’s text messages have been revealed, including language that was very critical, dismissive, and in some cases profane about Trump, which have raised concerns about bias against the president. Last week Trump said he was the target of a “coup” that was bigger than the Watergate scandal.
During a Washington Post Live event on Thursday, moderator Robert Costa asked McCarthy about Trump’s choice of language and its impact on the public’s level of trust in the FBI.
“Their actions are a coup,” McCarthy said.
Costa noted how such a “significant word” brings up the image of a “revolution.” McCarthy brought up the substance of some of the texts, one of which mentioned an “insurance policy.“
“You’re talking about two individuals,” McCarthy said. “Whether they are capable of doing it or not — but you’re asking me a specific question. If I read these texts — what is the determination between these two? And if I took the names away, and I took the situation away, and I read it to this audience, they may come to the same conclusion.”
Republicans in the House and Senate have been engaged in their own investigations into misconduct and bias within the upper echelons of the Department of Justice and FBI, including the anti-Trump text messages of Strzok and Page, which they are concerned will reveal a scheme to undermine Trump. A Justice Department inspector general report released last summer condemned Strzok and Page for tweets that suggested “a willingness to take official action to impact the presidential candidate’s electoral prospects.”
Two top Senate Republicans sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr last week, offering a tip for his review of the initial investigation into the Trump campaign in the summer of 2016.
Strzok and Page were engaged in an affair during the time they exchanged text messages. Strzok was an agent who had a leading role in the Clinton and Trump-Russia investigations; Page was an FBI lawyer.
Special counsel Robert Mueller removed Strzok from the Russia investigation after the text messages came to light. Strzok was fired by the FBI, and Page also left the agency.
