Former FBI Director James Comey condemned two FBI officials who were assigned to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s meddling the 2016 elections for sending scornful messages to each other about President Trump.
“I had no idea,” Comey told USA Today in an interview published Monday about the text messages between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. “It really bugs me. I think it’s terrible judgment.”
The two briefly worked on Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion with Russia. Strzok, who played a key role in the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server, was reassigned to the FBI’s human resources department after his pro-Clinton and anti-Trump messages with Page were revealed.
The FBI did not bring charges against Clinton, and Comey says the discovery of such texts does not change his mind about the case.
“It doesn’t change my view of the case, but the FBI is a public-trust organization,” Comey said. “That they are bad-mouthing candidates using FBI (phones) is terrible.”
[Related: FBI appears to confirm Peter Strzok, Lisa Page still have top-secret clearances]
