Did Peter Strzok Deserve to Be Fired?
Peter Strzok was fired from the FBI over text messages in which he disparaged President Trump. Strzok was removed from the Russia investigation last year amidst suspicions that his animosity towards Trump could have led to professional bias. Trump has pointed to Strzok’s texts to illustrate what he sees as the faulty foundations of the Russia investigation, but many on the left remain unconvinced that Strzok’s political feelings about Trump affected his professional conduct. More at CNN.
The only remedy for Strzok’s disgraceful actions was just summarily levied— firing. And he ironically has met the same fate as his mentor, former deputy director, Andrew McCabe, who was fired for lying under oath, by the attorney general, after a recommendation from the inspector general’s office. In fact, the only true “collusion” that may ever be determined could well have been perpetrated by McCabe, Strzok, and FBI attorney Lisa Page, as evidenced by those infamous text message exchanges.
If we’d been caught in an extramarital affair with a co-worker while using company texts and emails to trash our clients or customers — we’d be fired on the spot. And yes, that’s what Donald Trump was when the still-inexplicable investigation into his campaign’s foreign connections began in the spring of 2016 — a customer of the justice system. An odd turn of phrase, yes. We usually just call them “citizens.” Citizens, even despicable ones like marathon bomber and dirtbag punk Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, are entitled to fair treatment.
At the very least, it needs to explain the basis of the decision to dismiss Strzok, pointing out which internal rules he violated, and why these violations amounted to a firing offense. As things stand, it looks like the Bureau’s leaders buckled to Trump and his political and media outriders, dispensing with departmental norms and setting a highly disturbing precedent.