Peter Strzok Defends Belief Trump ‘Compromised’ by Russia: Their Leverage Renders Him ‘Incapable’ of Defending National Interest

Former FBI agent Peter Strzok said he remains convinced that President Donald Trump is “compromised” by the Russians and cannot protect America’s national interests.

Speaking to NBC’s Chuck Todd on Sunday for Meet The Press, Strzok began the interview by saying “I believed at the time in 2016 and I continue to believe that Donald Trump is compromised by the Russians.”

“And when I say that,” he added. “I mean that they hold leverage over him that makes him incapable of placing the national interest, the national security ahead of his own.”

Strzok went on by insisting Trump’s business empire is embroiled in numerous financial entanglements with Russia, and “those interactions have placed him in a position” where the Russians can manipulate his actions. As he defended the FBI’s process of investigating Trump throughout the last few years, Strzok emphasized that Trump’s lies about Russia and his financial endeavors in the country formed the basis for national security concerns.

“When he says things like that he has no financial relationship or dealings with Russia at the same moment his attorney istrying to make a deal for a Trump Tower Moscow, that lie is known to Vladimir Putin,” Strzok said. “It’s not the overt actions towards warming a relationship with Russia. It’s the lies that time and time again [Trump] tells that Russia also knows that they can use over leverage with him…Conclusively, the concerns we had about Russia were merited and it was the appropriate thing to do to look into them.”

Strzok continued the interview by noting how many of Trump’s allies and campaign staffers were found to have secretive connections to Russia. He also voiced regret for the anti-Trump texts he exchanged with his lover, former FBI attorney Lisa Page, which were at the root of his firing and the accusation that the FBI was biased against the president.

I certainly regret sending the text messages that were absolutely weaponized and used to bludgeon the work of the FBI, the work of the special counsel. I’ll always regret that. But at the same time, the way that those were weaponized was unprecedented. And it is certainly part of a pattern of activity where this administration has gone to lengths that no other administration has ever done.

Watch above, via NBC.