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FBI Fires Peter Strzok Over Anti-Trump Texts

A lawyer for Strzok said FBI Deputy Director David L. Bowdich ordered the firing.

The FBI has fired Agent Peter Strzok, who was axed from the bureau’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election after his anti-Trump texts surfaced, The Washington Post reports. Strzok’s attorney Aitan Goelman said FBI Deputy Director David L. Bowdich ordered Strzok fired even though the FBI’s disciplinary office decided he should be suspended for 60 days and demoted. “The discussion to fire [Strzok] is not only a departure from typical bureau practice, but it also contradicts Director Wray’s testimony to Congress and his and his assurance that the FBI intended to follow its regular practice in this and all personnel matters,” Goelman said in a statement. “This decision should be deeply troubling to all Americans... It is a decision that only produces one winner—those who seek to harm our country and weaken our democracy. The FBI and the American people deserve better.” The FBI declined to comment to the Post. Strzok defended himself last month, saying that he took no part in “conspiratorial bias” during a tense congressional testimony about his private texts to FBI lawyer Lisa Page.