The FBI has fired Peter Strzok over anti-Trump text messages he exchanged with his lover during the 2016 presidential campaign, Strzok's lawyer Aitan Goelman confirmed Monday. Strzok, who led the FBI's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election, was fired on Friday on the orders of FBI Deputy Director David L. Bowdich, Goelman said. "This decision should be deeply troubling to all Americans," Goelman said in a statement Monday.
Tucker Higgins | Kevin Breuninger Published 31 Mins Ago Updated 3 Mins Ago CNBC.com
Deputy Assistant FBI Director Peter Strzok testifies on FBI and Department of Justice actions during the 2016 Presidential election during a House Joint committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, July 12, 2018. Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images Deputy Assistant FBI Director Peter Strzok testifies on FBI and Department of Justice actions during the 2016 Presidential election during a House Joint committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, July 12, 2018.
The FBI has fired Peter Strzok over anti-Trump text messages he exchanged with his lover during the 2016 presidential campaign, Strzok's lawyer Aitan Goelman confirmed Monday.
Strzok, who led the FBI's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election, was fired on Friday on the orders of FBI Deputy Director David L. Bowdich, Goelman said. The decision overruled a previous FBI decision that Strzok should face a demotion and 60-day suspension.
"This decision should be deeply troubling to all Americans," Goelman said in a statement Monday. Goelman accused Bowdich of bowing to political pressure and said the firing was not based "on a fair and independent examination of the facts."
The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC.
Strzok has been a lighting rod since text messages he exchanged with FBI lawyer Lisa Page became public. In thousands of messages, Strzok and Page disparage the president and other political figures.
In one exchange, Page asked Strzok: "Trump's not ever going to be president, right? Right?!"
In response, Strzok wrote, "No. No he won't. We'll stop it."
The president and a number of Republican lawmakers have seized on the texts to discredit special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe. Mueller removed Strzok from his team in the summer of 2017 after he became aware of the text messages. Strzok, who has spent more than two decades at the FBI, was re-assigned to the bureau's human resources department.
Good bye to bad rubbish. Looooooong over due. Hopefully the FBI & DOJ will now get a real good house cleaning, and Smirk Face will be followed by a lot of other firings !!!! I would also think he, and others are also deserving of criminal charges / prosecutions !!!
