Strzok grilled by joint House committee, says he never displayed political bias during investigation

Embattled FBI deputy assistant director Peter Strzok faced severe criticism from House Republicans in a public hearing Thursday for his “political bias” displayed in thousands of anti-Trump text messages sent during the 2016 presidential election.

In opening remarks, Strzok defended his actions during his time on special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, saying he never showed any amount of bias during the Russia probe. He claimed Mueller removed him from the investigation because of the perception his texts implied.

“This investigation is not politically motivated,” Strzok said. “It is not a witch hunt. It is not a hoax.”

But it didn’t take long for the joint hearing between the House Judiciary and House Oversight committees to erupt in chaos.

Oversight Committee chair Trey Gowdy (R., S.C.) requested Strzok to tell the committees how many witnesses he interviewed in the beginning of the Russia probe. Strzok refused to respond to Gowdy, saying he was instructed by the FBI’s legal counsel not to answer because Mueller’s investigation was still ongoing.

A volatile debate between Gowdy and Strzok ensued, lasting more than 20 minutes. Several Democratic representatives complained Gowdy spoke well over his allotted time for questions and claimed Strzok had a right not to answer because a response could subvert the Russian investigation. House Committee chairman Bob Goodlatte (R., Va.) threatened to hold Strzok in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer Gowdy’s question.

“I am stating to you it is not my understanding that he kicked me off because of any bias—that it was done based on appearance,” Strzok said. “If you want to represent what you said accurately I am happy to answer that question, but I don’t appreciate what was originally said being changed.”

“I don’t give a damn what you appreciate, Agent Strzok,” Gowdy fired back. “I don’t appreciate having an FBI agent with an unprecedented level of animus working on two major investigations during 2016.”

Strzok led the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state and was a part of Mueller’s probe into possible collusion between Russia and President Donald Trump’s campaign during the 2016 election.

Mueller removed Strzok from the investigation last summer after he became aware of text messages between Strzok and his former colleague, FBI lawyer Lisa Page, criticizing Trump during the campaign. The texts, sent between August 2015 and December 2016, ridiculed Trump and other presidential candidates. In one text message, Strzok called Trump an “idiot.” In another, he texted Page, “God, Hillary should win 100,000,000-0,” after a March 2016 debate. Strzok’s lawyer, Aitan Goelman, maintains he never showed political bias during his investigation.

The Justice Department inspector general’s office released a report last month revealing further texts between Strzok and Page. According to the report, Strzok told Page, “We’ll stop it,” when she asked him about the likelihood of Trump becoming president. Some Republicans slammed the FBI after the texts were made public, saying the agency showed obvious signs of political bias and claiming the bureau was on a “witch hunt.”

Strzok sought to clarify his messages by saying they were made late at night and in response to Trump’s critical remarks of a Gold Star family in July 2016.

“My presumption, based on that horrible, disgusting behavior that the American people would not elect somebody demonstrating that behavior to be President of the United States,” Strzok said. “It was in no way, unequivocally, any suggestion that me, the FBI, would take any action whatsoever to improperly impact the electoral process, for any candidate.”

Strzok continued that there simply was no way he could demonstrate political bias and effectively conduct an investigation. He warned that Republican attacks on the FBI were “deeply destructive,” to which Democratic representatives loudly applauded.

Rep. David Cicilinne (D., R.I.) apologized to Strzok for the raucous behavior of the joint committees toward him. He said Republicans were more focused on protecting the Trump administration from the Mueller investigation rather than on issues such as family separation or reducing gun violence.

“The reason my Republican colleagues will not let you answer a question is because they’re not interested in your answers,” Cicilinne said. “This is about promoting a narrative.”

Emotions in the room intensified again when Rep. Louie Gohmert (R., Tex.) delved into Strzok’s extramarital affair with Page.

“I’ve talked to FBI agents around the country,” Gohmert said. “You’ve embarrassed them. You’ve embarrassed yourself, and I can’t help but wonder when I see you looking there with a little smirk, how many times did you look so innocent into your wife’s eye and lie to her about Lisa Page?”

Democrats erupted at Gohmert after his comment, and one lawmaker shouted at the Republican, “You need your medication.”