Peter Strzok, the former FBI agent who was fired for anti-Trump bias after helping kick-start the Russian collusion investigation, is suing the government over his firing.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, Strzok claims the Department of Justice and the FBI mishandled his dismissal and caved to pressure from President Trump. The former agent alleges that his firing “was the result of unrelenting pressure from President Trump and his political allies in Congress and the media,” accusing the government agencies of violating his First and Fifth Amendment rights by leaking his text messages with FBI lawyer Lisa Page.
Strzok’s lawsuit is as ridiculous as it is unfounded. If anything, he should have been fired sooner. This is the man who referred to the president as an “idiot” repeatedly on his government-issued cellphone, the man who said he wanted to take Trump down right before escalating a deeply divisive and ultimately fruitless probe into Trump’s presidency. It’s possible to believe the Russia investigation was necessary and still understand that Strzok laid open a raw bias against the president he was supposed to serve.
For those who need a refresher, here’s one of Strzok’s text message exchanges with Page: “[Trump is] not ever going to become president, right? Right?!” Page asks during the heat of the 2016 presidential election. To which Strzok replies, “No. No he won’t. We’ll stop it.”
As Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz said, Strzok’s messages were “not only indicative of a biased state of mind but, even more seriously, implies a willingness to take official action to impact the presidential candidate’s electoral prospects.”
Of course, the question here is whether Strzok’s bias lead him to apply a different standard of justice to Trump based on the premised belief that he was a traitor and that the end result would be impeachment. Again, the text messages speak for themselves. In a text to Page, Strzok wrote that he’d rather be a part of “an investigation leading to impeachment” in the long run, before acknowledging that the “odds” Trump is impeached “are nothing.”
“If I thought it was likely, I’d be there no question. I hesitate in part because of my gut sense and concern there’s no big there there,” he said.
There you have it: implicit bias and the attempt to do something about it. The FBI had all the evidence it needed against Strzok, so they fired him. If only they had done so sooner.
Strzok is attempting to exploit a legal loophole to make a point. His odds in court are slim, but he doesn’t care. This is his war with Trump and he’s determined to go down swinging. But Trump doesn’t need help taking Strzok down: Strzok’s arrogance will do that for him.
