Disgraced ex-FBI agent Peter Strzok reacts to Durham report on Trump-Russia collusion with victory lap
Disgraced former FBI agent Peter Strzok appeared to take a victory lap Monday while reacting to the release of Special Counsel John Durham’s report on the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation.
Strzok, who was fired from the FBI in 2018 following the surfacing of anti-Trump texts he sent his then-lover, FBI lawyer Lisa Page, took to social media after the report’s release, listing multiple individuals who ultimately faced federal charges stemming from the Russia investigation.
In his tweet, Strzok listed the names of nine individuals, including former Trump 2016 campaign chairman Paul Manafort and advisor Roger Stone, and noted that six of them were found guilty of their charges, two were found not guilty, and one remains wanted by the FBI.
Most of the charges involved financial crimes and making false statements, but the investigation ultimately found no evidence of Russian collusion.
“Point me to the confirmation bias here?” Strzok added.
Later Monday evening, Strzok also appeared on the liberal network MSNBC and claimed the report “didn’t come up with anything,” calling it a “predictable, sad ending to an investigation that never should have taken place.”
Despite Strzok’s claims, the report, which was released after a years-long investigation into the origins of the FBI’s original investigation into alleged coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign, concluded that “the Department and the FBI failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law in connection with certain events and activities described in this report.”
In the report, Durham said his investigation also revealed that “senior FBI personnel displayed a serious lack of analytical rigor towards the information that they received, especially information received from politically-affiliated persons and entities.”
What to know about the bombshell Durham report
Special counsel John Durham completed a four-year review of the FBI’s investigation of allegations that Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign colluded with Russia
Durham found the FBI’s probe was “seriously flawed” and had no basis in evidence, according to a 306-page report released Monday.
The special prosecutor found that FBI officials “discounted or willfully ignored material information that did not support the narrative of a collusive relationship between Trump and Russia.”
Durham also found investigators put too much faith in information provided by Trump’s political opponents and carried out surveillance of Trump campaign adviser Carter Page without genuinely believing there was probable cause to do so.
Despite the scathing findings, Durham did not recommend criminal prosecutions or widespread FBI reforms, writing that “the answer is not the creation of new rules but a renewed fidelity to the old.”
Durham’s investigation lasted more than four years, longer than the FBI’s Trump-Russia probe itself.
“This information in part triggered and sustained Crossfire Hurricane and contributed to the subsequent need for Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation,” the report said. “In particular, there was significant reliance on investigative leads provided or funded (directly or indirectly) by Trump’s political opponents.”
“The Department did not adequately examine or question these materials and the motivations of those providing them, even when at about the same time the Director of the FBI and others learned of significant and potentially contrary intelligence,” the report said.
The FBI responded to the scathing report in a statement to Fox News Digital, touting what it said were “dozens of corrective actions” already implemented as a result of the Durham investigation.
“The conduct in 2016 and 2017 that Special Counsel Durham examined was the reason that current FBI leadership already implemented dozens of corrective actions, which have now been in place for some time. Had those reforms been in place in 2016, the missteps identified in the report could have been prevented,” the FBI said.
