Text messages exchanged between two “lovers” have become the highlight of a report due to be made public on the Hillary Clinton email case by US Attorney General Michael Horowitz.
In August 2016, two FBI agents – Lisa Page and Peter Strzok – believed to be romantically linked exchanged text messages about the possibility of a Donald Trump presidency.
In one of the messages, Page, an FBI lawyer, asked Strzok: “[Trump’s] not ever going to become president, right? Right?!”
Strzok texted back: “No. No he won’t. We’ll stop it.”
The report is the result of a review carried out months ago by Horowitz and included more anti-Trump text exchanges between the two officials, with Strzok calling Trump an “idiot” and adding that there was an “insurance policy” against Trump’s presidency.
For over a year, the Inspector General has been reviewing Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Justice (DOJ)’s actions related to its investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was Secretary of State.
The report is expected to reveal among other things whether “certain underlying investigative decisions were based on improper considerations.”
Specifically, it is expected to explain whether systemic bias against Trump existed in the period leading to the November 2016 election and if such bias influenced investigative decisions by FBI and DOJ.
Reacting to the Strzok statements, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Trey Gowdy said, “Peter Strzok’s manifest bias trending toward animus casts a pall on this investigation…His bias impacted his decision making and he assigned to himself the role of stopping the Trump campaign or ending a Trump Presidency.
“This is not the FBI I know.”
While Page has left the agency, Strzok has been reassigned to the human resource department.