WASHINGTON (CN) – The FBI agent whose anti-Trump text messages during the 2016 presidential election campaign fueled suspicions the agency is plagued by a partisan bias told lawmakers during a contentious hearing on Capitol Hill Thursday he never allowed his personal opinions to infect his work.
In prepared remarks released ahead of his public testimony before the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees, Peter Strzok said the intense scrutiny he's received from Republican members of the committees is "just another victory notch in Putin's belt and another milestone in our enemies' campaign to tear America apart."
Strzok, who helped lead FBI investigations into Hillary Clinton's email use and potential coordination between Russia and Donald Trump's campaign, is testifying publicly for the first time since being removed from special counsel Robert Mueller's team following the discovery of the derogatory text messages last year.
The president and Republicans on Capitol Hill have repeatedly charged the text messages exchanged between Strzok and
FBI lawyer Lisa Page colored the outcome of the Clinton email investigation and undercut the FBI's ongoing investigation into Russian election interference.
In those text messages, Strzok dismissed Trump as “awful” and “idiot” and also expressed dismay after Trump’s victory in November, saying it was “fucking terrifying.”
When Page asked Strzok if he thought Trump was “ever going to become president,” Strzok responded “No. No he won’t. We’ll stop it.”
House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., contends the messages do more than show political bias between two members of the FBI, but suggest that a greater impartiality has infiltrated the agency and the Justice Department.
But Rep. Elijah Cummings, of Maryland, and Jerry Nadler, of New York, both Democrats, have said the investigation into Strzok is a “political charade” that “elevate far-right conspiracy theories and undermine the special counsel’s ongoing criminal investigation of the President and his campaign aides.”
Trump himself has repeatedly heaped personal attacks on the two FBI officials, and did so again Wednesday night, tweeting "how can the Rigged Witch Hunt proceed when it was started, influenced and worked on, for an extended period of time" by Strzok.
He described the texts as "hate filled and biased."
Strzok responded Thursday by saying "Let 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."
He also defended the work of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, saying the investigation of Russian election interference "is not politically motivated, it is not a witch hunt, it is not a hoax."
But Strzok's prepared remarks did nothing to mollify Republican lawmakers who quickly went on the attack. As soon as Strzok's concluded his opening remarks, Rep, Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., launched into questions over the timing for interviews the FBI agent conducted in connection with his role in Russia investigation.
Strzok, with his own attorneys and attorneys from the FBI seated behind him, told Gowdy he would not be able to answer specifics about the investigation since it could interfere with Mueller’s ongoing probe.
The refusal sparked outrage by majority members of the committee and prompted a contentious debate between Republicans and Democrats over the committee’s rules as well as federal procedure.