Strzok Strikes Out

 

I watched a good bit of Peter Strzok’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee today. A few observations:

  1. It is truly frightening that the arrogant, biased, and petulant person who testified today can rise to the very top of the FBI/DOJ bureaucracy and use the awesome power of the federal government to investigate and punish someone he dislikes intensely.
  2. The fact that such a man can rise to the pinnacle of power in DC is an indictment of the Deep State, where liars and malefactors of every stripe can thrive and prosper.
  3. When you are in serious jury trial, the worst facial expression your witness can exhibit is the “Strzok Smirk.” If your witness does it, you should throw in the towel and plead him guilty immediately.
  4. Strzok’s personal attorney, Aitan Goelman, had the toughest job in the hearing room. He was seated behind Strzok and was on the television screen when his client answered question. In a masterful performance, he managed to refrain from rolling his eyes or pulling out chunks of his beard during some of Strzok’s answers.
  5. Lisa Page must be one desperate woman to have become involved with Strzok. In fact, I don’t know how anyone could be in the same room with him for fifteen minutes.
  6. The three FBI lawyers with whom Strzok consulted during his testimony must be the lawyers with the lowest seniority in the entire DOJ.
  7. Strzok did give one straight answer. When asked if he detested Trump, he said, “Yes.”
  8. He had no specific recollection of writing the email to Lisa assuring her that “we’ll stop him.” But he did say it was late at night when he sent it.
  9. Maxine Waters has a higher IQ than the Dem Representatives who pontificated (none asked questions) today in the hearing.
  10. After today, Congressional approval numbers will slip below those of the only two professions that have polled lower: iPhone update techs and website designers who build phony “unsubscribe” buttons.
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  1. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    MichaelHenry: It is truly frightening that the arrogant, biased, and petulant person who testified today can rise to the very top of the FBI/DOJ bureaucracy and use the awesome power of the federal government to investigate and punish someone he dislikes intensely.

    It’s more than a little chilling that they issued him a firearm.

    • #1
  2. Nanda Pajama-Tantrum Member
    Nanda Pajama-Tantrum
    @

    Thanks, Michael for watching on our behalf!  Isn’t this what we have C-SPAN for?  The Committee report(s) may yield useful information, but the public hearings are political grandstanding – on one side (guess which) – and bobbing/weaving on the part of the witness on the other…Closed door/closed circuit would’ve been my preference.

    • #2
  3. Jim McConnell Member
    Jim McConnell
    @JimMcConnell

    What scares me most is the smugness with which he identifies himself with the FBI as an organization; in other words, if you criticize him you are criticizing the FBI.

    I have seldom seen such arrogance.

    • #3
  4. Jamie Lockett Member
    Jamie Lockett
    @JamieLockett

    The whole dog and pony show was a ridiculous joke.

    • #4
  5. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Question: If he doesn’t have the self-discipline to keep his opinions to himself while he’s on the job, where is he going to get the self-discipline to keep his opinions from interfering with his work?   And even if he is going to find it somewhere, where is he going to get the discipline needed to keep his opinions from affecting the actions of other staff members who hear his comments?  

    • #5
  6. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Jamie Lockett (View Comment):

    The whole dog and pony show was a ridiculous joke.

    Do you think federal employees will be more attuned to the need to limit the use of official devices to government business and go somewhere else for private and personal business? Or do you view this as unimportant?

    • #6
  7. PHCheese Inactive
    PHCheese
    @PHCheese

    Three things should have been hammered home that I don’t think were. I Strzok failed a lie detector test. This should have been brought up in the opening statement. 2 If Russia was interfering in the election why wasn’t the Clinton campaign being investigated as well. 3 Strzok didn’t leak about the Trump investigation wasn’t out of a sense of duty but because the FBI was illegally spying on the Trump campaign.

    • #7
  8. Sweezle Inactive
    Sweezle
    @Sweezle

    Regarding number 1-3 I am in complete agreement. Thankfully Peter Strzok has been fired by Mueller and discredited by the Inspector General. Even if Strzok seems oblivious to his public disgrace and the dems seem to adore him (applause during a hearing?). 

    • #8
  9. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Sweezle (View Comment):

    Regarding number 1-3 I am in complete agreement. Thankfully Peter Strzok has been fired by Mueller and discredited by the Inspector General. Even if Strzok seems oblivious to his public disgrace and the dems seem to adore him (applause during a hearing?).

    I don’t think he can ever do law enforcement again.

    • #9
  10. Vance Richards Inactive
    Vance Richards
    @VanceRichards

    MichaelHenry: It is truly frightening that the arrogant, biased, and petulant person who testified today can rise to the very top of the FBI/DOJ bureaucracy and use the awesome power of the federal government to investigate and punish someone he dislikes intensely.

    And I bet the thing he dislikes most about Trump is Trump’s arrogant attitude

    • #10
  11. WillowSpring Member
    WillowSpring
    @WillowSpring

    I don’t think he failed a lie detector test, I think he was over due for his next one.

    • #11
  12. Front Seat Cat Member
    Front Seat Cat
    @FrontSeatCat

    I had to turn it off and if I had a beard which I don’t because I’m female, I would have pulled it out – I could not believe the insanity I witnessed, the circling of progressive wagons around Strozk in Congress was sick – the usual bringing up of “we’re here instead of doing the people’s business like addressing the immigration issue and children”.  Yes, we’re here….and holding up signs of Trump administrative people in the background who have been supposedly convicted of having ties to Russians, who have been bullied, harassed beyond belief, and still no answers from an 18 month investigation?

    The interruptions alone were so staged it was despicable. Someone demanded Steve Bannon be brought back in to take up more time?   I recalled countless Obama and Hillary administrative officials taking the Fifth on numerous hearings including the IRS and the Hillary email scandal, Benghazi……”At this point what does it matter?”

    The person of Strozk reminded me of the little demon in C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters…I saw pointy teeth, pointy ears, fake anger, and a smug satisfaction with his achievements, and his involvement leading us to today.

    • #12
  13. DrewInWisconsin Member
    DrewInWisconsin
    @DrewInWisconsin

    MichaelHenry: He had no specific recollection of writing the email to Lisa assuring her that “we’ll stop him.” But he did say it was late at night when he sent it.

    What was crazy about that was Strzok claiming he didn’t remember writing it, but then explaining in detail what he meant by it.

    How’s that work, then?

    Yes, what an arrogant, smirking [redacted].

    I recommend watching at least this portion of Trey Gowdy questioning him. It will give you a taste of the entire circus.

    • #13
  14. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Front Seat Cat (View Comment):

    I had to turn it off and if I had a beard which I don’t because I’m female, I would have pulled it out – I could not believe the insanity I witnessed, the circling of progressive wagons around Strozk in Congress was sick – the usual bringing up of “we’re here instead of doing the people’s business like addressing the immigration issue and children”. Yes, we’re here….and holding up signs of Trump administrative people in the background who have been supposedly convicted of having ties to Russians, who have been bullied, harassed beyond belief, and still no answers from an 18 month investigation?

    The interruptions alone were so staged it was despicable. Someone demanded Steve Bannon be brought back in to take up more time? I recalled countless Obama and Hillary administrative officials taking the Fifth on numerous hearings including the IRS and the Hillary email scandal, Benghazi……”At this point what does it matter?”

    The person of Strozk reminded me of the little demon in C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters…I saw pointy teeth, pointy ears, fake anger, and a smug satisfaction with his achievements, and his involvement leading us to today.

    I still have the most difficulty with the transition of the ‘Russian interference in the 2016 election’ from the counter-intelligence function within the FBI to the appointment of a Special Counsel and the process by which that transition was effected. That makes me very suspicious of motives and the use of the Russian interference as cover, especially since no single piece of evidence involving President Trump has been revealed or even suggested. The actual charges brought against Paul Manafort go back well beyond the start of the 2016 campaigning and the approach by Mueller’s people in the other cases, guilty pleas for lying to investigators, is far from persuasive.

    • #14
  15. Mike-K Member
    Mike-K
    @

    All these televised hearings are circuses because Congress critters can rarely avoid grandstanding. What was particularly startling was the degree of obstruction the Democrats created. I didn’t watch but read about it.  No shame.

    • #15
  16. Bob W Member
    Bob W
    @WBob

    Jamie Lockett (View Comment):

    The whole dog and pony show was a ridiculous joke.

    Arrogant, smug, etc. But these texts are not evidence of a crime. The Republicans went too far with this. And not just Louis Gohmert. My bet is that both collusiongate and spygate will fizzle out. 

    • #16
  17. I Walton Member
    I Walton
    @IWalton

    Reluctantly I watched a good bit of it, I can’t remember why.  He’s really a lousy witness, his nasty, arrogant and dishonest posturing was nauseating, but the Democrats defense was even worse.    We’re really not in a good place.

    • #17
  18. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Bob W (View Comment):

    Jamie Lockett (View Comment):

    The whole dog and pony show was a ridiculous joke.

    Arrogant, smug, etc. But these texts are not evidence of a crime. The Republicans went too far with this. And not just Louis Gohmert. My bet is that both collusiongate and spygate will fizzle out.

    A big part of the problem here is that under the Obama Administration DoJ and FBI behaviors ran amuck without restraint, much cleanup is needed to wash away the wrongdoing and the coverup, and we have no effective means to accomplish this. It looks as if Stryzok, Comey, McCabe and many others around them had grown to think they owned the roles they were in and no one should displace them. He acted today like someone who could not accept that his chosen career is over. And he will have company.

     

    • #18
  19. tigerlily Member
    tigerlily
    @tigerlily

    Here’s something I don’t understand. Why is there a FBI attorney at this (or any similar hearing) of this guy or his paramour Lisa Page telling the committee that this witness doesn’t have to answer this or that question? Why doesn’t the FBI want the Congress to get to the truth?

    • #19
  20. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    Michael,

    Found this on Ann Coulter’s twitter feed.

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #20
  21. Brian Wyneken Member
    Brian Wyneken
    @BrianWyneken

    “Let me be clear, unequivocally and under oath: Not once in my 26 years of defending my nation did my personal opinions impact any official action I took,” the agent, Peter Strzok, told House lawmakers investigating what Republicans say is evidence of rampant bias at the top levels of the F.B.I.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/12/us/politics/fbi-agent-house-republicans.html

    This is the statement of someone utterly incapable of introspection – if he actually believes what he says here.

    I’ve known too many like this and unfortunately they can thrive within certain career fields in the military and law enforcement. Other than himself and the hapless Page, I doubt this fellow had many true admirers.

    • #21
  22. Annefy Member
    Annefy
    @Annefy

    Hopefully this link will work.

    Does he know he’s on TV?

    • #22
  23. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    Annefy (View Comment):

    Hopefully this link will work.

    Does he know he’s on TV?

    Dang, if you pause that at 03 when he’s rolling his eyes, he looks demon possessed!

    • #23
  24. Ontheleftcoast Inactive
    Ontheleftcoast
    @Ontheleftcoast

    Jim McConnell (View Comment):
    Jim McConnell  

    What scares me most is the smugness with which he identifies himself with the FBI as an organization; in other words, if you criticize him you are criticizing the FBI.

    Unless Trump is succeeded by another Republican, we may have just seen the next FBI Director in action.

    • #24
  25. Cow Girl Thatcher
    Cow Girl
    @CowGirl

    I was driving all day to a family reunion. I’d listen to it for a while, then I’d get so agitated I’d change channels so I would not drive badly. 

    A) Why does this man still have a security clearance?

    B) Why does this man still have employment with the FBI?

    C) Which ever Congress Idiot told Strzok that he should get a Purple Heart for his service should be forced to attend at least fifty funerals of service members who were KIA. 

    D) This hearing should not have been televised on regular TV—it led to way too much grandstanding. 

    • #25
  26. Basil Fawlty Member
    Basil Fawlty
    @BasilFawlty

    A smirk worthy of Koskinen.

    • #26
  27. ToryWarWriter Coolidge
    ToryWarWriter
    @ToryWarWriter

    The FBI seems only capable of moving in Sociopaths into the position of head of Counterintelligence.  Remember William C Sullivan of Counintelpro fame.  Of course I do not care for the FBI in National Security applications.  I think it should be broken up into several different agencies.  The FBI should remain as a national police force and thats it.  Its attitudes and incompetence has proven detrimental to the national security of the USA going back several decades.  

    • #27
  28. philo Member
    philo
    @philo

    I Walton (View Comment): …but the Democrats defense was even worse. We’re really not in a good place.

    True but, unfortunately, we have been here for quite some time.  I seem to remember ancient investigations (1996) into real foreign illegalities in our electoral process  and congressional hearings where a real American Hero pissed away every ounce of respect and credibility he ever accumulated in just this kind of behavior. So very disgusting, yet amazing that, complete idiots aside, even people who should know better do this seemingly so willingly and on the record. It’s not like We the People don’t have the attention span and long memories required to clean this swamp out every couple of years…oh, wait…nevermind.

    (If I have time, I bet I can dig up some additional pathetic behavior from the highlighted portions of the Hiss hearings in my copy of Witness.)

    • #28
  29. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    MichaelHenry: Lisa Page must be one desperate woman to have become involved with Strzok. In fact, I don’t know how anyone could be in the same room with him for fifteen minutes.

    I’m sure she was only in the room with him for two minutes at a time . . .

    • #29
  30. philo Member
    philo
    @philo

    Brian Wyneken (View Comment): …This is the statement of someone utterly incapable of introspection – if he actually believes what he says here.

    I’ve known too many like this and unfortunately they can thrive within certain career fields in the military and law enforcement. Other than himself and the hapless Page, I doubt this fellow had many true admirers. [Emphasis Added]

    No need to be so narrowly selective with respect to the playgrounds these types frequently haunt. (HINT: Look at some of the pre-government work histories on the resumes of the players that frequent our front pages these days.  There’s a whole MLB-style farm system littered with up-and-comers and aging has-beens of just this type.  It is an interesting, yet mostly depressing, thing to behold.)

    • #30
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