The Department of Justice has turned over text messages between two FBI agents once assigned to the Russia probe which show how the two reacted to candidates and various developments during the 2016 campaign.
Peter Strzok, a counter-intelligence agent who also helped run the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, expressed a clear preference for the Democratic candidate while leveling expletive-laden insults against Republicans. The GOP, he said in one exchange, “needs to pull their head out of their ass."
Strzok was removed from Mueller's staff earlier this year after Justice Department investigators began reviewing whether he exchanged messages critical of President Trump. Strzok was abruptly reassigned this summer to the bureau’s human resources office.
The disclosure of 375 text message communications between Strzok and FBI colleague Lisa Page not only included disparaging references to Trump but also slammed former Democratic candidates Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley – and pondered the sexual preference of Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
Page already had finished her stint on Mueller's team when the messages she and Strzok exchanged came to light.
The messages, which were turned up during a Justice Department inspector general investigation into potential political influence on investigative decisions during the campaign, are fueling Republican calls for a second special counsel to investigate Mueller's operation.
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The exchanges show Page and Strzok mocking Trump as early as mid-2015.
Responding to a Washington Post story about Trump saying it hadn’t been proven that Russian President Vladimir Putin had killed anyone, Page wrote: "What an utter idiot."
In a March 2016 message, Page exclaimed: "God trump is a loathsome human....omg he's an idiot."
"He's awful," replied Strzok.
The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to question Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Wednesday.
Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller and, ultimately, is in charge of the special counsel investigation.
Read more: Peter Strzok, FBI agent removed from Robert Mueller's Russia probe, called Trump an 'idiot' (USA Today)
In texts, FBI agents on Russia probe called Trump an 'idiot' (Politico)