The political purge of American law enforcement continues (Peter Strzok has been fired from the FBI).

N&P: Discuss governments, nations, politics and recent related news here.

Moderators: Alyrium Denryle, Edi, K. A. Pital

Post Reply
User avatar
The Romulan Republic
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 21559
Joined: 2008-10-15 01:37am

The political purge of American law enforcement continues (Peter Strzok has been fired from the FBI).

Post by The Romulan Republic »

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/13/politics ... fired-fbi/
Washington (CNN) - The FBI has fired Peter Strzok, an agent who was removed from the Russia probe last year for sending text messages disparaging President Donald Trump, Strzok's lawyer said Monday.

Aitan Goelman, Strzok's attorney, said FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich ordered the agent's termination on Friday. Goelman said that the deputy director's decision comes after the head of the office that normally handles disciplinary actions decided Strzok should instead face a demotion and 60-day suspension.

"the decision to fire Special Agent Strzok is not only a depature from typical Bureau practice, but also contradicts (FBI) Director (Christopher) Wray's testimony to Congress and his assurances that the FBI intended to follow its regular process in this and all personnel matters," Goelman said in his statement.

The FBI declined to comment on Goelman's assertions.

Strzok included his lawyer's statement in a post on Twitter in which the former FBI agent said he was "deeply saddened" by the FBI's decision.

"It has been an honor to serve my country and work with the fine men and women of the FBI," Strzok wrote, including a link to a GoFundMe account intended to cover his legal costs and lost income.
The article goes on at some length, but basically, it appears that Strzok was fired outside of the normal FBI procedure and chain of command, in defiance of prior assurances to Congress (could Director Wray potentially be on the hook for lying under oath to Congress?). While some of Strzok's comments were certainly inappropriate given his position, and warranted removal from the Mueller probe (as Mueller appropriately did), the Justice Department's investigation found no indication that his biases had affected the investigation. He was further disciplined by the FBI by being demoted and put on a 60-day suspension, as determined by the parties normally responsible for discipline. Then, in violation of normal FBI procedure and over the normal chain of command for such a situation, Deputy Director Bowdich fired him.

Trump almost immediately Tweeted to praise the decision.

I guess there's no room in the FBI for anyone who isn't a good little foot soldier of Der Fuhrer. I hope Strzok successfully sues the FBI for wrongful termination.

Edit: While I still largely trust Mueller's integrity, this decision seriously calls into question the ability of certain other parties at the FBI to credibly investigate the Trump Administration. It also means that the FBI Deputy Director is indirectly validating Trump's claims of an FBI conspiracy to favor Clinton in the 2016 election.
"I know its easy to be defeatist here because nothing has seemingly reigned Trump in so far. But I will say this: every asshole succeeds until finally, they don't. Again, 18 months before he resigned, Nixon had a sky-high approval rating of 67%. Harvey Weinstein was winning Oscars until one day, he definitely wasn't."-John Oliver

"The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan."-General Von Clauswitz, describing my opinion of Bernie or Busters and third partiers in a nutshell.

I SUPPORT A NATIONAL GENERAL STRIKE TO REMOVE TRUMP FROM OFFICE.
User avatar
madd0ct0r
Sith Acolyte
Posts: 6259
Joined: 2008-03-14 07:47am

Re: The political purge of American law enforcement continues (Peter Strzok has been fired from the FBI).

Post by madd0ct0r »

Huh. Another line crossed. Mid terms are going yo be fun
"Aid, trade, green technology and peace." - Hans Rosling.
"Welcome to SDN, where we can't see the forest because walking into trees repeatedly feels good, bro." - Mr Coffee
User avatar
The Romulan Republic
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 21559
Joined: 2008-10-15 01:37am

Re: The political purge of American law enforcement continues (Peter Strzok has been fired from the FBI).

Post by The Romulan Republic »

madd0ct0r wrote: 2018-08-14 01:56am Huh. Another line crossed. Mid terms are going yo be fun
If by "fun" you mean "Either Russia will hack it or Trump will claim that any results he doesn't like are invalid and use it as a pretext to double down on voter suppression and whipping up his mob base", then yeah, probably very fun indeed.
"I know its easy to be defeatist here because nothing has seemingly reigned Trump in so far. But I will say this: every asshole succeeds until finally, they don't. Again, 18 months before he resigned, Nixon had a sky-high approval rating of 67%. Harvey Weinstein was winning Oscars until one day, he definitely wasn't."-John Oliver

"The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan."-General Von Clauswitz, describing my opinion of Bernie or Busters and third partiers in a nutshell.

I SUPPORT A NATIONAL GENERAL STRIKE TO REMOVE TRUMP FROM OFFICE.
Simon_Jester
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 30165
Joined: 2009-05-23 07:29pm

Re: The political purge of American law enforcement continues (Peter Strzok has been fired from the FBI).

Post by Simon_Jester »

TRR, if you have nothing to say other than "we are axiomatically doomed no matter how well the actual voting goes," then you have nothing to say.
This space dedicated to Vasily Arkhipov
User avatar
The Romulan Republic
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 21559
Joined: 2008-10-15 01:37am

Re: The political purge of American law enforcement continues (Peter Strzok has been fired from the FBI).

Post by The Romulan Republic »

Simon_Jester wrote: 2018-08-17 10:53am TRR, if you have nothing to say other than "we are axiomatically doomed no matter how well the actual voting goes," then you have nothing to say.
That's not remotely my point or what I said, but I'm also well aware that what I say has little to no bearing on what I am attacked for saying on this board.

What I am saying is that there are dangerous times ahead, whatever the vote. We should not pretend otherwise. That does not mean that voting is pointless- some outcomes are much worse than others. An overwhelming vote against the Republicans which Trump refuses to acknowledge as legitimate would be incredibly messy, but still leave us in a much better position than a vote which vindicates Trump and his collaborators. Even if Russia committed massive fraud to ensure a Republican win, high Democratic turnout wouldn't be pointless- because an enthusiastic Democratic turnout, and high Democratic support in exit polls, would make the fraud more obvious, harder to hide, and give protests post-election a legitimate grievance to rally around.
"I know its easy to be defeatist here because nothing has seemingly reigned Trump in so far. But I will say this: every asshole succeeds until finally, they don't. Again, 18 months before he resigned, Nixon had a sky-high approval rating of 67%. Harvey Weinstein was winning Oscars until one day, he definitely wasn't."-John Oliver

"The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan."-General Von Clauswitz, describing my opinion of Bernie or Busters and third partiers in a nutshell.

I SUPPORT A NATIONAL GENERAL STRIKE TO REMOVE TRUMP FROM OFFICE.
Post Reply