Strzok fired two years after anti-Trump texts

The FBI fired agent Peter Strzok last week over text messages he sent during the 2016 presidential campaign criticizing then-candidate Donald Trump. Special counsel Robert Mueller removed Strzok a year ago from the team investigating Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and the FBI had been reviewing his employment. Strzok’s lawyer, Aitan Goelman, said FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich fired Strzok on Friday. Goelman called the dismissal politically motivated and said the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility had determined that a 60-day suspension and demotion from supervisory duties was “the appropriate punishment.” Strzok defended himself at a combative House hearing in July, insisting the texts he sent did not reflect political bias and had not affected his investigations. Strzok was also a lead investigator on the probe into Democrat Hillary Clinton’s email server in 2016.