FBI fires Peter Strzok

“This decision should be deeply troubling to all Americans. A lengthy investigation and multiple rounds of Congressional testimony failed to produce a shred of evidence that Special Agent Strzok’s personal views ever affected his work,” Goelman wrote in a statement.

“In fact, in his decades of service, 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,” he said.

The FBI did not respond to the Washington Examiner‘s request for comment.

Strzok was part of the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server and possible links between the 2016 Trump campaign and the Kremlin, before joining special counsel Robert Mueller’s federal Russia probe in the summer of 2017.

But he was transferred to a human resources role shortly afterwards following a Justice Department’s Inspector General investigation that revealed he sent disparaging texts about President Trump to FBI lawyer Lisa Page, with whom he was in a relationship. The texts became a focus of Republican-led complaints that the Justice Department and the FBI were biased against the president.

Trump and GOP lawmakers were quick to react to Strzok’s surprise exit.

“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!” Trump wrote on Twitter.

Many congressional Republicans, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., and Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., said it was “about time” the FBI removed Strzok from its ranks.

“His conduct should deeply concern every American,” Meadows said in a separate statement. “I hope this development will allow us move to forward in restoring the character of an agency where so many brave men and women work tirelessly to keep America safe. This is the right decision. It’s about time.”

Strzok, a 21-year-old veteran of the FBI, was scrutinized in a series of open and closed hearings in June and July before the House Judiciary and Oversight committees.

“[L]et me be clear, unequivocally and under oath: not once in my 26 years of defending my nation did my personal opinions impact any official action I took,” Strzok said in his opening statement, released ahead of his defiant public testimony in July.

The Justice Department’s IG report, published in June, heavily criticized Strzok for the texts, including one in which he told Page “we’ll stop” Trump from becoming president. However, the DOJ watchdog found no proof over the course of its six-month probe that their views influenced internal decision-making processes because they never acted alone.

As part of the report, Justice Department IG Michael Horowitz referred the matter to the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility, which disciplined Strzok with the demotion and suspension. Page left the bureau in May.

[Also read: Burning question in DC: Why does Peter Strzok still have a job at FBI?]