Bobby Goodlatte, son of House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), gave some more details about why he’s supporting a Democrat to replace his father in Congress:
“I’m deeply embarrassed that Peter Strzok’s career was ruined by my father’s political grandstanding. That committee hearing was a low point for Congress.”
“Thank you for your service sir. You are a patriot.”
“Peter Strzok’s testimony was a disgrace. It taints the entire Mueller witchhunt. President Trump is being investigated by people who possess pathological hatred for him. All the results of the investigation are ‘fruit of the poison tree’ and should be dismissed.”
— Rudy Giuliani, on Twitter.
The House hearing with FBI agent Peter Strzok “erupted into a shouting match” after Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) directly asked Strzok about his affair with former FBI attorney Lisa Page, CNN reports.
Said Gohmert: “I’ve talked to FBI agents around the country. You’ve embarrassed them. You’ve embarrassed yourself. And I can’t help but wonder 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?”
The comment prompted jeers from others on the committee, including one person who could be heard saying: “This is outrageous.”
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) also responded to Gohmert: “You need your medication.”
“Republicans sparred with FBI agent Peter Strzok from the very first question at a hearing Thursday over politically charged investigations, threatening him with a contempt citation for refusing, at the direction of an FBI lawyer, not to answer questions about the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election,” the Washington Post reports.
“Strzok, who was the lead agent on FBI probes into Hillary Clinton and the Trump campaign and is now the subject of an internal misconduct probe, was asked by Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, how many individuals he interviewed in the first week of the Russia probe in the summer of 2016. He declined to answer.”
“Democrats immediately accused Republicans of treating Strzok unfairly and asked that the hearing be adjourned.”
The Fix highlights several key parts of the hearing.
On her show last night, Rachel Maddow told the incredible story of the FBI spying on Russian spies in the U.S., “Donald Heathfield” and “Tracey Foley,” and notes that Peter Strzok led many of those operations — the same Peter Strzok that Republicans are trying to smear in order to discredit the Mueller investigation.
It’s an extraordinary segment.
Strzok is testifying today before a joint hearing of two House committees responsible for FBI and Justice Department oversight.
Newly-obtained emails “show the FBI agent at the center of a Capitol Hill storm played a key role in a controversial FBI decision that upended Hillary Clinton’s campaign just days before the 2016 election: the letter to Congress by then-FBI Director James Comey announcing the bureau was investigating newly discovered Clinton emails,” CNN reports.
“The new revelation about FBI agent Peter Strzok comes as Republicans accuse him of being sympathetic to Clinton while seeking to undermine Donald Trump during the heat of the 2016 campaign season.”
“Strzok, who co-wrote what appears to be the first draft that formed the basis of the letter Comey sent to Congress, also supported reopening the Clinton investigation once the emails were discovered on disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner’s laptop.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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