Ousted FBI agent reportedly referred to Trump as an 'idiot' and disparaged Democratic officials
Thomson Reuters
- Text messages between two FBI agents assigned to the Russia investigation investigation reveal disparaging remarks to President Donald Trump.
- One message referred to Trump as an "idiot."
- The messages reportedly made other snide references to other political officials, including Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley.
Text messages between two FBI agents assigned to the ongoing investigation into Russia interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with President Donald Trump's campaign reveal that they made a reference to Trump as an "idiot," according to multiple media reports published Tuesday.
Peter Strzok, a former counter-intelligence agent, was "immediately" ousted by special counsel Robert Mueller, who heads the Russia investigation, upon discovering the texts in July, according to Politico and USA Today. Lisa Page, the other agent in question, has reportedly ended her assignment with Mueller's team.
Copies of the 375 messages between the two agents were submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, according to USA Today, which included snide remarks about other politicians, including then-Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley.
The Republican Party "needs to pull their head out of their ass," Strzok suggested, according to USA Today's reporting.
After noticing her "first Bernie Sanders bumper sticker," Page said in a message that it "Made me want to key the car."
"He's an idiot like Trump," Strzok replied, according to USA Today. "Figure they cancel each other out."
The messages were reportedly sent between August 2015 and December 2016, when the presidential campaign was in full swing.
The public discovery of the text messages comes at a time when Mueller's investigation has come under intense scrutiny from right-leaning critics and the Republican Party — who have have questioned the impartiality of Mueller's team. That effort has picked up traction after Mueller obtained several guilty pleas from former Trump associates, including former national security adviser Mike Flynn and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.