Peter Strzok

[Cartmann99]

I'm sure Strzok was thrilled to know that Marino(?) was praying for him. 

[candygirl200413]

Okay so I didn't tweet this cause eventually I have to get a job but wow Trey Gowdy literally gets turned on by asking dumb questions. Like he had all this unnecessary passion for such a dumb hearing until I remember Benghazi.

[AmazonGrace]

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"FBI agent at center of clash over Russia probe faces off with Republicans at tense hearing"

Spoiler

He has been vilified by President Trump as “the FBI’s sick loser.”

His name has been uttered on countless Fox News segments to cast doubt on special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Russia probe.

On Thursday, after weeks of itching to speak out on his own behalf, the man best known for his private anti-Trump text messages made his public debut, stepping out before some six dozen lawmakers at a joint committee hearing on Capitol Hill.

“I am here under oath, I am not lying, I have never lied under oath, and I never will,” FBI agent Peter Strzok said in one of several tense exchanges with Republican lawmakers.

In a hearing filled with theatrics, Strzok was alternately praised for his impassioned defense of the bureau against accusations of partisanship and berated for his scathing text messages about then-presidential candidate Trump to former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, with whom Strzok was having an affair at the time.

Through it all, Strzok emerged as a largely unflappable, if unlikely, champion of the very bureau that removed him from his role in the Russia investigation last July.

He prompted cheers from some in the room when he called attacks on the FBI’s integrity “deeply destructive.”

But he was derided by Republicans as a partisan hack out to get Trump.

“No wonder Bob Mueller kicked you off of the investigation, Agent Strzok,” House Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) told him.

He came prepared to defend the bureau’s political neutrality, making note of the various layers of supervisors and analysts involved in its work. “They would not tolerate any improper behavior in me, any more than I would tolerate it in them. That is who we are as the FBI,” Strzok said.

And he decried alleged Russian interference in U.S. elections, describing the hearing — which Strzok himself had sought in an effort to clear his name — as “just another victory notch in Putin’s belt and another milestone in our enemies’ campaign to tear America apart.”

Strzok did not make it to the hearing room without a battle. He first offered to testify publicly last month following the release of a report by the Justice Department inspector general that singled him out for strong criticism. The House Judiciary Committee initially denied him that opportunity but agreed to conduct a closed-door interview, which lasted 11 hours.

The committee then changed course and issued a subpoena for Strzok’s public testimony, which prompted the FBI agent’s attorney to accuse Republicans of playing political games and seeking to “trap” his client.

When Strzok did make the long-anticipated public appearance, he was rewarded with hours of heated questioning, shouting and bickering by members of the House Judiciary and Oversight committees in a spectacle that put the country’s fierce partisan divisions on display.

In one exchange, at the direction of Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), a deadpan Strzok read aloud some of the text messages he had sent to Page, including ones in which he called Trump an “idiot” and a “disaster.”

When Issa asked Strzok to repeat one text message that contained a profanity, the agent replied without missing a beat. “Okay, sir. Sure,” he said. “Happy to indulge you.”

Democrats alternated between describing the hearing as an outrage and mocking it as a joke.

“This hearing is a kangaroo court,” said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). “It is a three-ring circus. It is not even meritorious of an investigation by Ace Ventura, Pet Detective, let alone 75 members of the United States Congress. Let’s stop wasting taxpayer dollars and get back to the business of the American people.”

Strzok kept his composure even as the sparring veered from the partisan to the personal. As the public grilling entered its fifth hour, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.) took aim at Strzok’s “little smirk” and said he couldn’t help wondering: “How many times did you look so innocent into your wife’s eye and lie to her about Lisa Page?”

Strzok looked straight ahead, his somewhat bemused expression unchanging, as the room erupted into a cacophony of yells, with one lawmaker firing back at Gohmert, “You need your medication!”

Thursday’s marathon hearing was carried live for most of the day on all three cable news networks. One of the few interruptions came when the networks cut away for a 10-minute window to broadcast a rather incongruous scene far from steamy Washington: the pomp and circumstance of Trump’s arrival at stately Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England, where the president was to join British Prime Minister Theresa May for a black-tie dinner on the second leg of his week-long Europe trip.

At a time of fierce political divisions, few matters have polarized the public as much as the Russia investigation, and Trump has relentlessly used his Twitter bully pulpit to criticize the probe, often seizing on Strzok and Page — the “two FBI lovers” — to make his point. Last Saturday, Trump tweeted that Americans were beginning to sour on the investigation, which he described, as he often has, as a “Rigged Witch Hunt.”

“Public opinion has turned strongly against the Rigged Witch Hunt and the ‘Special’ Counsel because the public understands that there was no Collusion with Russia (so ridiculous), that the two FBI lovers were a fraud against our Nation & that the only Collusion was with the Dems!” Trump said.

A Washington Post-Schar School poll conducted from June 27 to July 2 suggests that the attacks by Trump and Republicans on the Russia probe have had an impact, particularly among Republicans.

In January, 49 percent of Republicans disapproved of the Mueller investigation. That number had shot up to 78 percent by early July. Views among Democrats have remained steady at 20 percent disapproval, while disapproval among independents rose from 29 percent to 43 percent. Among all adults, 31 percent disapproved of the Mueller investigation in January, compared with 45 percent in July.

Partisans on both sides found much to like in the hearing.

“Strzok is running circles around @RepGoodlatte. Totally humiliating for a member of Congress to get owned by a witness like this,” tweeted Obama White House veteran Tommy Vietor.

Conservative commentator Ann Coulter said in a tweet:“I hope lots of Americans are watching the Strzok hearings. Fox should cancel weekend programming & just play this hearing over & over again.”

As the eighth hour of the hearing was underway, Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz.) brought up an earlier, tense faceoff between Strzok and Gowdy over comments Trump had made during the 2016 campaign about a Gold Star military family.

“By the way, I’m a dentist, so I read body language very, very well,” Gosar said, telling Strzok that he appeared “very angry” when discussing Trump’s comments.

Strzok said he disagreed.

“I don’t know if you’re saying this experience is like being at the dentist,” he said, drawing murmurs from the crowd. “But I would tell you, sir, what you see in my response is a genuine passion for the United States of America.”

 

[GreyhoundFan]

 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"The purpose of interrogating Peter Strzok was clear: Ritual humiliation"

Spoiler

They stuck with Donald Trump when he was heard, on video, boasting about sexually assaulting women. They stuck with him still when he acknowledged paying hush money to a porn actress who alleged an affair.

But this week, congressional Republicans, determined to discredit the investigation by Robert S. Mueller III into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, hauled in FBI agent Peter Strzok and sought to humiliate him over anti-Trump texts he exchanged with his mistress, FBI lawyer Lisa Page.

“I can’t help wonder,” said Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.), “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?”

Denunciations rained from the Democratic side.

“Shame on you!”

“Have you no decency?”

“This is intolerable harassment.”

“Do you need your medication?”

Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) ruled that Gohmert was free to impugn the witness’s character.

The purpose of interrogating Strzok for 10 hours Thursday (after 11 hours in a private session) was clear: ritual humiliation. In fairness, the vast majority condemned Strzok over his texts to his lover without invoking the affair. But then there was Rep. Karen Handel (R-Ga.), picking up where Gohmert left off. “Engaging in the kind of behavior that you have been engaging in, especially with the extramarital affair, it opens up an agent to exploitation and even blackmail,” she proclaimed.

If Republicans really want to go there, they’ll need to investigate the vulnerabilities of some of Strzok’s inquisitors on their glass-house committee:

Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-Tenn.), who needled Strzok about “text messages with your friend.” DesJarlais, according to divorce filings, had multiple extramarital affairs and encouraged his ex-wife and a patient with whom he had an affair to get abortions.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who is battling the allegations of former Ohio State wrestlers who said he ignored sexual abuse while coaching there.

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), who has been under investigation by the House Ethics Committee over payments to a former staffer accused of sexual harassment. Other members of the panel are Rep. Greg Gianforte (R-Mont.), who was sentenced last year to community service and anger-management classes for assaulting a reporter, and Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), whose infidelity as governor of South Carolina made national headlines.

Judging Strzok also would have been Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Tex.), but he recently resigned after revelation of a taxpayer-funded sexual harassment settlement.

And there’s Gohmert himself, who defended Jordan against the wrestlers’ allegations and who remained on Trump’s leadership team through the “Access Hollywood” scandal.

Republicans aimed to show that Strzok went easy on Hillary Clinton’s emails and rigged a witch hunt against Trump. Strzok’s anti-Trump text messages were dumb and made it easier to attack both probes, and he was deservedly reassigned. His claim that he has no bias is silly: We all have biases. The important thing is not to let bias overtake judgment.

This is why the whole argument against Strzok and the FBI is absurd: Strzok and colleagues could have doomed Trump with one phone call, leaking the investigation into possible collusion with Russia. But they kept it secret. Instead, then-FBI Director James B. Comey went public 11 days before the election with information about the Clinton email probe, tanking her candidacy.

“I was one of a handful of people who knew the details of Russian election interference and its possible connections with members of the Trump campaign,” Strzok told the lawmakers, but “exposing that information never crossed my mind.”

Goodlatte quickly lost control of the proceedings, as Democrats hectored him with points of order, appeals of his rulings and a call to adjourn. He ordered the removal of Democrats’ posters showing those who pleaded guilty in the Mueller probe but then admitted there was no rule against them. He demanded Strzok answer questions in order to “respect the dignity of the Congress” and to provide “facts needed for intelligent legislative action.”

Dignity?

Intelligent legislative action?

This Congress?

Strzok didn’t play down his antipathy toward Trump. A former Army officer, he said he thought Americans would reject Trump after his “horrible, disgusting behavior” attacking the parents of a fallen soldier.

He called those his “views.” I’d call that bias. The question is whether it affected the Clinton and Trump probes. Strzok found it “astounding” and “deeply destructive” to suggest that the FBI’s many safeguards against bias could be overridden in “some dark chamber.”

The actual outcome — the FBI released damaging information about Clinton on the eve of the election but kept mum about damaging information about Trump — suggests that, if anything, the bias went the other way.

But by all means let’s hear more about Peter Strzok’s affair.

 

[Howl]

Well, apparently the closed door hearing with Lisa Page went much better;  not really, but they couldn't risk an open hearing with Page after the Stzrok debacle.  Plus things generally go better when you're not grandstanding for the cameras and busy making asses out of yourselves. 

[fraurosena]

1 hour ago, Howl said:

Well, apparently the closed door hearing with Lisa Page went much better;  not really, but they couldn't risk an open hearing with Page after the Stzrok debacle.  Plus things generally go better when you're not grandstanding for the cameras and busy making asses out of yourselves. 

Plus, the image of all those men ganging up on and attempting to humiliate a woman about her sex-life and making her read raunchy texts aloud is not one even they would want on public display. At least, not before the midterms.

Behind closed doors though, I'm quite sure they applied every demeaning and derogatory tactic they could come up with.

[AmazonGrace]

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Gerry is my congressman. Some don't care for him, but I've always found him to be reasonable and he tries to represent his district well. I did like the clip and sent an email, thanking him.

[JMarie]

A primer for some of the colorful people involved in last week's hearing

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a22134841/peter-strzok-testimony-what-happened/

[Howl]

annnnnnd, Strzok is out.  He's been dismissed from the FBI, ostensibly for violating Bureau policy.  Wonder if Lisa Page will hang in there.  

Peter Strzok, F.B.I. Agent Who Criticized Trump in Texts, Is Fired

Noxious Trump rage tweet about it in 3....2....1....

[fraurosena]

So all three head honcho's at the FBI who were investigating Russian interference in the 2016 elections have been fired. I wonder why... 

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[AmazonGrace]

https://twitter.com/petestrzok

According to Buzzfeed this is a confirmed real account. 

[Cartmann99]

From Time magazine:

Quote

A GoFundMe account for embattled former FBI agent Peter Strzok that launched shortly after his termination was publicized raised nearly $41,000 in five hours.

The account was started by an anonymous organizer, listed only as “Friends of Special Agent Peter Strzok,” with a stated goal of raising $150,000. The costs will go towards Strzok’s legal fees and supplementing his lost income since he is currently unemployed.

http://time.com/5365963/peter-strzok-fired-gofundme/

His GoFundMe has now raised $80,763. 

[JMarie]

9 hours ago, Howl said:

annnnnnd, Strzok is out.  He's been dismissed from the FBI, ostensibly for violating Bureau policy.  Wonder if Lisa Page will hang in there.  

Peter Strzok, F.B.I. Agent Who Criticized Trump in Texts, Is Fired

Noxious Trump rage tweet about it in 3....2....1....

I think Page will be "allowed" to hang in there, because she's "lovely".

Quote

‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump Aug 11

More

.....Will the FBI ever recover it’s once stellar reputation, so badly damaged by Comey, McCabe, Peter S and his lover, the lovely Lisa Page, and other top officials now dismissed or fired? So many of the great men and women of the FBI have been hurt by these clowns and losers!

 

[Howl]

I read up on this a bit and I think Lisa Page bailed out on her own in May. 

As with McCabe, the significance of firing Stzrok is that he is likely screwed on his Federal pension.  

[AmazonGrace]

 

[Botkinetti]

Just checked and the go fund me has raised  $ 239,811.00.