The day before the 2016
Presidential Election, November 7th, disgraced FBI agent Peter Strzok texted,
“OMG, this is fucking terrifying.”
During the fierce
grilling of Strzok yesterday, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) asked, “What was so
terrifying about those same American people you trusted to “stop” him in August
not stopping him in November? What was
so terrifying about that agent Strzok?”
“I was not referring to
the American electorate at all. The
American electorate I respect in their decisions and their right to vote is
absolutely a cornerstone of our democracy, so at no time did I insult or call
into question the judgment or the power of the American electorate. What I was
expressing in that text is my personal belief and my personal sense of how I
saw and what I believed in the potential upcoming Administration,” said Strzok.
In response to his
lover’s [Lisa Page] question, “Not
ever going to become president, right, right?”, Strzok texted, “No, no he’s
not, we’ll stop it.”
Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) used his time during the testimony
to ask, “…you were both rooting for Hillary Clinton to win and you both
detested Donald Trump did you not?”
STRZOK: I think that’s fair to say.
CHABOT: And in fact, as we learned you apparently found
Donald Trump’s supporters detestable too. Those around Loudon, Virginia as
we’ve already heard you called ignorant hillbillies. And that you visited a
southern Virginia Walmart and could smell the Trump support. Now, I have to say
that when I read those communications and when I hear them here between the two
of you, specifically, what you had to say about Trump supporters, it reminded
me of something Hillary Clinton had said about Trump supporters. She found them—what
did she call them? Deplorables? I would submit it was your and Hillary
Clinton’s smug view of Donald Trump’s supporters that was truly deplorable.
Don’t you think that the American people when they’re paying your salaries,
when they are paying for a fair and unbiased investigation from none other than
the FBI that they deserved a whole lot better then what those comments I just
referred to reflect?
STRZOK: Congressman, two things. One, I absolutely
regret the appearance of some of those texts and wish I would have said,
phrased or not said at all some of the things I did. Two, I disagree completely
with your attribution to my views of Trump supporters. I never said that. I
expressed no such thing. There are millions and millions and millions and
millions of Americans who I deeply respect and honor that voted for Mr. Trump.
Chabot pointed to
Strzok’s inference that Loudoun County is taken from a scene in the
1972 film Deliverance. [Cue the banjo
music]
Strzok was deploying his government down-speak of rural
America; the tug of war between the forgotten men and women of “flyover country”
and those ensconced in the comfortable armchair seat of power and wealth in
Washington and the Left Coast.
During the afternoon session of the hearing, Rep. Darrell
Issa (R-CA) made the smarmy, smirking equivocator read out loud his text messages.
In a moment of pure
prosecutorial prowess, Rep. Gowdy laid out the case for Strzok’s unencumbered
bias:
“About two weeks ago, FBI Agent Peter Strzok was
interviewed for more than 10 hours. We learned that Agent Strzok has a most
unusual and largely self-serving definition of bias. Agent Strzok, despite the
plain language of his text and e-mails, despite the Inspector General's report
and despite common sense, doesn't think he was biased.”
He thinks calling someone destabilizing for the country isn't bias. He thinks promising to protect the country from someone he hasn't even begun to investigate isn't bias. He thinks promising to stop someone he is supposed to be fairly investigating from ever becoming president isn’t bias.”
He thinks calling someone destabilizing for the country isn't bias. He thinks promising to protect the country from someone he hasn't even begun to investigate isn't bias. He thinks promising to stop someone he is supposed to be fairly investigating from ever becoming president isn’t bias.”
“He thinks talking about an insurance policy to keep
someone from becoming president isn't bias. But that's for one of the folks he
was investigating. He has a different set of rules for others that he’s
investigating.”
“Agent Strzok thinks saying someone he is allegedly
investigating should be elected President 100 million to zero before he ever
interviews. He doesn't think that's bias. Agent Strzok thinks pronouncing
someone innocent before bothering to interview more than 30 different witnesses
isn’t bias.”
“He thinks claiming you can smell the Trump supporters
isn't bias, but he doesn't say a single solitary word about being able to smell
the support of any other candidate. To him, that isn’t bias.”
“The moment Special Counsel Bob Mueller found out about
Peter Strzok's text and e-mails, he was kicked off the investigation. But that
was a year and a half too late. The text and the e-mails may have been
discovered in May of 2017, but the bias existed and was manifest a year and a
half before that, all the way back to late 2015 and early 2016.”
This country is deeply
divided and while what Strzok and his lover did is deeply troubling, it is
clear part of the impetus for their contempt of Trump can be laid at the feet
of Never Trumpers. Have a listen:
.@GerryConnolly came prepared. pic.twitter.com/e3bGAeqi39— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) July 12, 2018
STRZOK EMAIL: And hi. Went well, best we could have
expected. Other than [REDACTED] quote: “the White House is running this.” My answer,
“well, maybe for you they are.” And of course, I was planning on telling this
guy, thanks for coming, we’ve got an hour, but with Bill [Priestap] there, I’ve
got no control….
PAGE EMAIL REPLY: Yeah, whatever (re the WH comment).
We’ve got the emails that say otherwise.
It would be interesting
to know what is in the emails that apparently clarify how the Obama Administration
divided responsibility for running the Trump-Russia investigation.
