Attorney for Peter Strzok Responds to Trump’s ‘Barrage of Attacks’: He’s Not a Conspirator, He’s a Patriot
An attorney for Peter Strzok, the FBI agent at the center of serious ongoing scrutiny, has publicly responded to the “barrage of attacks” from President Trump.
Strzok’s texts with Lisa Page revealed anti-Trump bias and have been the catalyst for many calls from Republicans to take a thorough look at bias in the FBI and DOJ. Last summer after reports of these texts came to light Robert Mueller removed Strzok from his investigation.
Aitan Goelman, currently representing Strzok, has an opinion piece in USA Today today responding to this tweet from the President:
Why was the FBI’s sick loser, Peter Strzok, working on the totally discredited Mueller team of 13 Angry & Conflicted Democrats, when Strzok was giving Crooked Hillary a free pass yet telling his lover, lawyer Lisa Page, that “we’ll stop” Trump from becoming President? Witch Hunt!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2018
Goelman writes in defense of his client’s background at great length before saying the President is throwing up a smokescreen:
So what’s the reason for this barrage of attacks on his character and this effort to portray him as a hyperpartisan member of a “deep state” conspiracy that is determined to thwart the will of the American people?
Make no mistake: It is all part of a calculated political strategy to demonize Pete and the men and women of the FBI and the Department of Justice in order to pre-emptively discredit the results of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
He does say Strzok “inadvertently provided ammunition to this effort” with his more Trump-critical texts, but maintains he’s “played by the rules” and has been fully cooperating with investigators.
The biggest bias Strzok shows, Goelman argues, is “toward American democracy and the need for it to be vigorously protected”:
In October 2016 Pete was one of a handful of people at the FBI who knew the full scope and gravity of the Russia investigation. Significantly harming — even stopping — the Trump presidency could have been accomplished by leaking that information to the news media. Instead, Pete and others at the FBI went out of their way to prevent leaks and, in the weeks before the election, actively ensured that news reports didn’t overplay the seriousness of the investigation.
These aren’t the actions of a partisan conspirator, they are the actions of an American patriot.
You can read the whole thing here.
[image via screengrab]
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