Peter Strzok spent his FBI career hunting Russian and Chinese spies, but after news broke of derogatory text messages he'd sent about U.S. President Donald Trump, he came to feel like he was the one being hunted.
There were menacing phone calls and messages from strangers, and anxious peeks out window shades before his family would leave the house. FBI security experts advised him of best practices -- walk around your car before entering, watch for unfamiliar vehicles in your neighbourhood -- more commonly associated with mob targets looking to elude detection.
Trump's attacks have continued even as two inspector general reports found no evidence Strzok's work in the investigations were tainted by political bias and multiple probes have affirmed the Russia probe's validity. Strzok, for his part, expresses measured regret for the texts in "Compromised: Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. Trump," due out Tuesday.
After the Clinton case concluded in July 2016, Strzok opened an investigation into whether the campaign of her Republican opponent was co-ordinating with Russia, conceiving the "Crossfire Hurricane" codename he says proved prescient. As the investigation progressed, Strzok came to regard the Trump administration's actions regarding Russia as "highly suspicious" and the president as compromised by Russia, including because of financial dealings in Moscow about which Strzok says Trump repeatedly lied.
Though Trump supporters contend the interview was designed to get Flynn to lie, Strzok says the FBI actually gave him multiple prompts to refresh his memory. And while Attorney General William Barr has said the interview was done without a legitimate purpose, Strzok says it was necessary to better understand the Trump orbit's ties to Russia and Flynn's own "hidden negotiation with a foreign power that had just attacked our elections.
The text message leak is part of a lawsuit from Strzok, who also conveys discontent at how his career ended.
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