The top FBI agent explicitly named throughout the recent Justice Department inspector general report as having anti-Trump bias will voluntarily go before Congress.
In a letter sent Saturday and made public Sunday to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, the lawyer for Peter Strzok says he will voluntarily appear and testify before the panel, and “any other Congressional committee that invites him.”
Aitan Goelman said the idea that Strzok would have to be subpoenaed to appear is “wholly unnecessary.”
Politico reported Goodlatte, R-Va., had started the process at the end of the week to subpoena Strzok.
Strzok, a veteran counterintelligence officer, worked in a senior role on both the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server and special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
Strzok was removed from the Mueller probe after it was discovered he and his mistress, a former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, exchanged anti-Trump, pro-Clinton messages.
Texts — many of which were already made public before Thursday’s IG report — between the two included their thoughts about the 2016 presidential election, and harsh criticisms of then-candidate Trump, calling him words like “idiot,” ”loathsome,” ”menace” and “disaster.”
The IG made public a newer, more inflammatory text where Page wrote to Strzok in August 2016: “[Trump’s] not ever going to become president, right? Right?!”
Strzok responded: “No. No he won’t. We’ll stop it.”
The IG concluded that Strzok’s text, along with other disparaging messages, “is not only indicative of a biased state of mind but, even more seriously, implies a willingness to take official action to impact the presidential candidate’s electoral prospects.”
The text messages “potentially indicated or created the appearance that investigative decisions were impacted by bias or improper considerations,” the IG report said
The inspector general, Michael Horowitz, referred his findings on Strzok to the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility for possible disciplinary measures.
“Every witness asked by the OIG said that Strzok’s work was never influenced by political views,” Goelman said in a Thursday statement.
It is not immediately clear if Strzok will appear before a joint hearing of the Judiciary and House Oversight committees Tuesday morning. So far, Horowitz is scheduled to appear.
[Also read: FBI to require political bias training after damaging IG report]
