Rudy Giuliani says ‘pathological hatred’ in smug Capitol Hill performance from anti-Trump FBI agent who worked on Russia probe means EVERYTHING in Mueller probe is tainted
Trump’s lawyer says Mueller probe is using ‘fruit of the poisoned tree’ because of FBI agent Peter Strzok’s partisan bias
Strzok worked on the Mueller probe until the discovery of anti-Trump text messages he exchanged with a fellow FBI employee he was having an affair with
He testified in a House hearing Thursday, showing his fiery temper as Republicans grilled him about the damning messages
One GOP member made him read the most incendiary ones out loud
By DAVID MARTOSKO
DAILYMAIL.COM
13 July 2018
Rudy Giuliani opened up a new front late Thursday night in his war against Special Counsel Robert Mueller, saying that his entire Russia probe should be tossed out because a former key investigator’s ‘pathological hatred’ of Donald Trump has tainted everything in his path.
Embattled FBI agent Peter Strzok, whose anti-Trump text messages exposed the Justice Department to claims of institutional bias, vigorously defended himself Thursday during a contentious congressional hearing that devolved into shouting matches and finger-pointing.
Strzok punctuated his testimony with smug expressions and taunting challenges to Republicans from two different House committees. His GOP interrogators drew howls from Democrats for raising his affair with another FBI employee with whom he exchanged anti-Trump barbs while he worked for Mueller.
‘Peter Strzok’s testimony was a disgrace,’ Giuliani, Trump’s lawyer, said afterward. ‘It taints the entire Mueller witchunt. President Trump is being investigated by people who possess pathological hatred for him. All the results of the investigation are “fruit of the poison tree” and should be dismissed.’
Strzok testified publicly for the first time since being removed from special counsel Robert Mueller’s team following the discovery of texts last year that were traded with an FBI lawyer in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election.
In a chaotic hearing that spanned 10 hours, he insisted he had never allowed personal opinions to affect his work, though he did acknowledge being dismayed by Donald Trump’s behaviour during the campaign.
Strzok also said he had never contemplated leaking damaging information he knew about the Trump campaign.
He called the hearing ‘just another victory notch in Putin’s belt’, referring to Russian president Vladimir Putin.
‘At no time, in any of those texts, did those personal beliefs ever enter into the realm of any action I took,’ Strzok told members of congress.
In breaking his silence, Strzok came face-to-face with Republicans who argued that the texts had tainted two hugely consequential FBI probes he had helped steer: inquiries into Hillary Clinton’s email use and possible co-ordination between the Trump campaign and Russia.
‘Agent Strzok had Hillary Clinton winning the White House before he finished investigating her,’ said Trey Gowdy, Republican chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
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