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. Curt North Inactive
    Curt North
    @CurtNorth

    Holy cow this guy is THE poster child for the deep state.  Let him be the face (and smirk) of the entire Muller investigation, I love it!

    By the way, can anyone pretty please tell me why this arrogant lying jerk-wad is still drawing a paycheck from the FBI?

    • #31
  2. PHCheese Inactive
    PHCheese
    @PHCheese

    The Demo Rats over and over decried the plight of separated immigrant children. The same people that have no problem with partial birth abortion. 60,000,000 lives snuffed out since Roe vs Wade. It upsets me that nobody threw this in their face.

    • #32
  3. Front Seat Cat Member
    Front Seat Cat
    @FrontSeatCat

    DrewInWisconsin (View Comment):

    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.

    My favorite of that was the line from Trey Gowdy to Strzok “I don’t give a damn what you think!” He left out the “Frankly sir…”

    • #33
  4. DrewInWisconsin Member
    DrewInWisconsin
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):

    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!

    • #34
  5. DrewInWisconsin Member
    DrewInWisconsin
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Basil Fawlty (View Comment):

    A smirk worthy of Koskinen.

    Worse than Koskinen.

    I mean, Koskinen was very bad, projecting that “I am untouchable” attitude. Strzok behaved as if he was the one doing the interrogation.

    • #35
  6. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    Basil Fawlty (View Comment):

    A smirk worthy of Koskinen.

    Basil,

    I hereby appoint you Ricochet Smirk Judge. Perhaps you can quantify your rating system. I’m sure there are more smirkers out there that we will be forced to endure.

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #36
  7. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    DrewInWisconsin (View Comment):

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):

    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!

    Scary!

    • #37
  8. Basil Fawlty Member
    Basil Fawlty
    @BasilFawlty

    James Gawron (View Comment):

    Basil Fawlty (View Comment):

    A smirk worthy of Koskinen.

    Basil,

    I hereby appoint you Ricochet Smirk Judge. Perhaps you can quantify your rating system. I’m sure there are more smirkers out there that we will be forced to endure.

    Regards,

    Jim

    I had an elaborate rating system in place called the Cole scale. But then he changed his avatar.

    • #38
  9. DrewInWisconsin Member
    DrewInWisconsin
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Lost in yesterday’s circus was the revelation that almost every single one of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails were being forwarded to an unspecified foreign agent.

    The Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) found an “anomaly on Hillary Clinton’s emails going through their private server, and when they had done the forensic analysis, they found that her emails, every single one except four, over 30,000, were going to an address that was not on the distribution list,” Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas said during a hearing with FBI official Peter Strzok.

    “It was going to an unauthorized source that was a foreign entity unrelated to Russia,” he added.

    Gohmert said the ICIG investigator, Frank Rucker, presented the findings to Strzok, but that the FBI official did not do anything with the information.

    Strzok acknowledged meeting with Rucker, but said he did not recall the “specific content.”

    “The forensic examination was done by the ICIG and they can document that,” Gohmert said, “but you were given that information and you did nothing with it.”

    He also said that someone alerted the Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz to the issue.

    “Mr. Horowitz got a call four times from someone wanting to brief him about this, and he never returned the call,” Gohmert said.

    • #39
  10. Jamie Lockett Member
    Jamie Lockett
    @JamieLockett

    The problem here is that you are all taking Strozk literally and not seriously. 

    • #40
  11. PHenry Inactive
    PHenry
    @PHenry

    His declarations that he never allowed his personal hate and opposition towards candidate Trump interfere or color his investigation(s) is totally irrelevant. 

    If he feels that animosity towards the target of the investigation he must recuse himself.  How would anyone here like to learn that the officers investigating accusations against them had a deep seated hatred for them prior to any evidence gathering?  Is not the standard that the ‘appearance’ of a conflict of interest is disqualifying valid for FBI investigators? 

    Now, if it is true that all agents and investigators have a right to personal political positions, show me the members of these two investigations that were tweeting Trump support and Hillary hate?  I mean, if it is true that all agents carry around these pre formed deep seated opinions about their targets, you would have to assume that roughly half would be in one camp, and half in the other, right? 

    If one investigation is filled entirely with investigators who carry the same bias, isn’t that disqualifying? 

     

    • #41
  12. Front Seat Cat Member
    Front Seat Cat
    @FrontSeatCat

    DrewInWisconsin (View Comment):

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):

    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!

    I told you – he’s the Screwtape character…I thought he was going to let out a hiss…

    • #42
  13. Front Seat Cat Member
    Front Seat Cat
    @FrontSeatCat

    PHenry (View Comment):

    His declarations that he never allowed his personal hate and opposition towards candidate Trump interfere or color his investigation(s) is totally irrelevant.

    If he feels that animosity towards the target of the investigation he must recuse himself. How would anyone here like to learn that the officers investigating accusations against them had a deep seated hatred for them prior to any evidence gathering? Is not the standard that the ‘appearance’ of a conflict of interest is disqualifying valid for FBI investigators?

    Now, if it is true that all agents and investigators have a right to personal political positions, show me the members of these two investigations that were tweeting Trump support and Hillary hate? I mean, if it is true that all agents carry around these pre formed deep seated opinions about their targets, you would have to assume that roughly half would be in one camp, and half in the other, right?

    If one investigation is filled entirely with investigators who carry the same bias, isn’t that disqualifying?

    You make a great point – when I was selected as a juror from a pool, during the process, the attorneys asked what books I was reading, what I liked on TV, seemingly benign questions, but they size you up quickly where your bias might lean.

     

    • #43
  14. A-Squared Inactive
    A-Squared
    @ASquared

    PHenry (View Comment):

    His declarations that he never allowed his personal hate and opposition towards candidate Trump interfere or color his investigation(s) is totally irrelevant.

    If he feels that animosity towards the target of the investigation he must recuse himself. How would anyone here like to learn that the officers investigating accusations against them had a deep seated hatred for them prior to any evidence gathering? Is not the standard that the ‘appearance’ of a conflict of interest is disqualifying valid for FBI investigators?

    Now, if it is true that all agents and investigators have a right to personal political positions, show me the members of these two investigations that were tweeting Trump support and Hillary hate? I mean, if it is true that all agents carry around these pre formed deep seated opinions about their targets, you would have to assume that roughly half would be in one camp, and half in the other, right?

    If one investigation is filled entirely with investigators who carry the same bias, isn’t that disqualifying?

    So, according to your theory, anyone who has personal animosity or hatred towards serial killers should recuse themselves from an investigation into a serial murders?

    • #44
  15. PHenry Inactive
    PHenry
    @PHenry

    Front Seat Cat (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin (View Comment):

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):

    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!

    I told you – he’s the Screwtape character…I thought he was going to let out a hiss…

    Something tells me Lisa Page has seen that look a few times… 

    • #45
  16. DrewInWisconsin Member
    DrewInWisconsin
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Anyone here making excuses for Strzok is off my Christmas card list immediately. You have been warned.

    • #46
  17. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    PHenry (View Comment):

    Now, if it is true that all agents and investigators have a right to personal political positions, show me the members of these two investigations that were tweeting Trump support and Hillary hate? I mean, if it is true that all agents carry around these pre formed deep seated opinions about their targets, you would have to assume that roughly half would be in one camp, and half in the other, right? 

    If one investigation is filled entirely with investigators who carry the same bias, isn’t that disqualifying? 

     

    What do you think the distribution of political preferences (not to the extent to be considered bias) would be over the entire FBI investigative force? How would it differ from HQ to the Field Offices?

    • #47
  18. Front Seat Cat Member
    Front Seat Cat
    @FrontSeatCat

    DrewInWisconsin (View Comment):

    Lost in yesterday’s circus was the revelation that almost every single one of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails were being forwarded to an unspecified foreign agent.

    The Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) found an “anomaly on Hillary Clinton’s emails going through their private server, and when they had done the forensic analysis, they found that her emails, every single one except four, over 30,000, were going to an address that was not on the distribution list,” Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas said during a hearing with FBI official Peter Strzok.

    “It was going to an unauthorized source that was a foreign entity unrelated to Russia,” he added.

    Gohmert said the ICIG investigator, Frank Rucker, presented the findings to Strzok, but that the FBI official did not do anything with the information.

    Strzok acknowledged meeting with Rucker, but said he did not recall the “specific content.”

    “The forensic examination was done by the ICIG and they can document that,” Gohmert said, “but you were given that information and you did nothing with it.”

    He also said that someone alerted the Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz to the issue.

    “Mr. Horowitz got a call four times from someone wanting to brief him about this, and he never returned the call,” Gohmert said.

    Wow! And this is not front page headlines??

    • #48
  19. Jamie Lockett Member
    Jamie Lockett
    @JamieLockett

    A-Squared (View Comment):

    PHenry (View Comment):

    His declarations that he never allowed his personal hate and opposition towards candidate Trump interfere or color his investigation(s) is totally irrelevant.

    If he feels that animosity towards the target of the investigation he must recuse himself. How would anyone here like to learn that the officers investigating accusations against them had a deep seated hatred for them prior to any evidence gathering? Is not the standard that the ‘appearance’ of a conflict of interest is disqualifying valid for FBI investigators?

    Now, if it is true that all agents and investigators have a right to personal political positions, show me the members of these two investigations that were tweeting Trump support and Hillary hate? I mean, if it is true that all agents carry around these pre formed deep seated opinions about their targets, you would have to assume that roughly half would be in one camp, and half in the other, right?

    If one investigation is filled entirely with investigators who carry the same bias, isn’t that disqualifying?

     

    So, according to your theory, anyone who has personal animosity or hatred towards serial killer should recuse themselves from an investigation into a serial murders?

     

    Should Republicans have been prevented from investigating Clinton?

    • #49
  20. PHenry Inactive
    PHenry
    @PHenry

    A-Squared (View Comment):
    So, according to your theory, anyone who has personal animosity or hatred towards serial killers should recuse themselves from an investigation into a serial murders?

    No, I’m saying that if A Squared is accused of being a serial killer, investigators with a personal animosity or hatred for A Squared should recuse themselves.  Remember, A Squared is not guilty of being a serial killer just because he has been accused! 

    • #50
  21. Jamie Lockett Member
    Jamie Lockett
    @JamieLockett

    Can someone explain to me the point of these hearings? The modernequivalnce of stocks in the public square? Don’t we already have the IG report? Don’t we already know he violated FBI policy? Fire the man and have done with it. This public spectacle is embarrassingly stupid. 

    • #51
  22. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    A-Squared (View Comment):

    PHenry (View Comment):

    His declarations that he never allowed his personal hate and opposition towards candidate Trump interfere or color his investigation(s) is totally irrelevant.

    If he feels that animosity towards the target of the investigation he must recuse himself. How would anyone here like to learn that the officers investigating accusations against them had a deep seated hatred for them prior to any evidence gathering? Is not the standard that the ‘appearance’ of a conflict of interest is disqualifying valid for FBI investigators?

    Now, if it is true that all agents and investigators have a right to personal political positions, show me the members of these two investigations that were tweeting Trump support and Hillary hate? I mean, if it is true that all agents carry around these pre formed deep seated opinions about their targets, you would have to assume that roughly half would be in one camp, and half in the other, right?

    If one investigation is filled entirely with investigators who carry the same bias, isn’t that disqualifying?

    So, according to your theory, anyone who has personal animosity or hatred towards serial killers should recuse themselves from an investigation into a serial murders?

    This is way off base. The crime and the culprit are two different things.

    • #52
  23. A-Squared Inactive
    A-Squared
    @ASquared

    DrewInWisconsin (View Comment):

    Anyone here making excuses for Strzok is off Christmas card list immediately. You have been warned.

    I’m not making excuses for Strzok.  I just the concerns over bias are focused on the wrong bias.  

    I’m not at all worried about Strzok’s anti-Trump bias.  I fully expect every criminal investigator to have a bias against the subject of the investigation, that is their job, but they have to gather the evidence and convince a jury to get a prosecution. 

    What I abhor is Strzok’s pro-Hillary bias in the e-mail investigation.  Bias against the subject of the investigation can’t convict someone without evidence, but bias in favor of the subject can very easily overlook evidence that would have resulted in a prosecution.  

     

    • #53
  24. DrewInWisconsin Member
    DrewInWisconsin
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Jamie Lockett (View Comment):
    The modernequivalnce of stocks in the public square?

    That’s valid.

    He’d be getting off easy.

    • #54
  25. PHenry Inactive
    PHenry
    @PHenry

    Jamie Lockett (View Comment):
    Should Republicans have been prevented from investigating Clinton?

    A political investigation is not the same as an FBI or DOJ investigation, is it? 

    To be more precise, if Clinton was being criminally investigated, he should not be investigated by people with a pre existing bias against him.  Is that controversial? 

    If instead your question is ‘should Republicans in the FBI have been prevented from participating in the investigation’ I would say no, as long as Democrats in the FBI are also participants. 

     

    • #55
  26. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    Front Seat Cat (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin (View Comment):

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):

    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!

    I told you – he’s the Screwtape character…I thought he was going to let out a hiss…

    I realize people think I’m a religious nutjob when I say these things, but demons are real, and you’re lookin’ at one.

    • #56
  27. Jamie Lockett Member
    Jamie Lockett
    @JamieLockett

    A-Squared (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin (View Comment):

    Anyone here making excuses for Strzok is off Christmas card list immediately. You have been warned.

    I’m not making excuses for Strzok. I just the concerns over bias are focused on the wrong bias.

    I’m not at all worried about Strzok’s anti-Trump bias. I fully expect every criminal investigator to have a bias against the subject of the investigation, that is their job, but they have to gather the evidence and convince a jury to get a prosecution.

    What I abhor is Strzok’s pro-Hillary bias in the e-mail investigation. Bias against the subject of the investigation can’t convict someone without evidence, but bias in favor of the subject can very easily overlook evidence that would have resulted in a prosecution.

     

    Exactly. 

    • #57
  28. Jamie Lockett Member
    Jamie Lockett
    @JamieLockett

    DrewInWisconsin (View Comment):

    Jamie Lockett (View Comment):
    The modernequivalnce of stocks in the public square?

    That’s valid.

    He’d be getting off easy.

    What crime did he commit?

    • #58
  29. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Jamie Lockett (View Comment):

    A-Squared (View Comment):

    PHenry (View Comment):

    His declarations that he never allowed his personal hate and opposition towards candidate Trump interfere or color his investigation(s) is totally irrelevant.

    If he feels that animosity towards the target of the investigation he must recuse himself. How would anyone here like to learn that the officers investigating accusations against them had a deep seated hatred for them prior to any evidence gathering? Is not the standard that the ‘appearance’ of a conflict of interest is disqualifying valid for FBI investigators?

    Now, if it is true that all agents and investigators have a right to personal political positions, show me the members of these two investigations that were tweeting Trump support and Hillary hate? I mean, if it is true that all agents carry around these pre formed deep seated opinions about their targets, you would have to assume that roughly half would be in one camp, and half in the other, right?

    If one investigation is filled entirely with investigators who carry the same bias, isn’t that disqualifying?

    So, according to your theory, anyone who has personal animosity or hatred towards serial killer should recuse themselves from an investigation into a serial murders?

    Should Republicans have been prevented from investigating Clinton?

    It’s sad if one cannot tell the difference between extreme bias, so significant as to require who knows how many interactions between two or more parties while engaged in an investigation, and a simple political party preference.

    • #59
  30. DrewInWisconsin Member
    DrewInWisconsin
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Jamie Lockett (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin (View Comment):

    Jamie Lockett (View Comment):
    The modernequivalnce of stocks in the public square?

    That’s valid.

    He’d be getting off easy.

    What crime did he commit?

    True. It’s not technically illegal to surrender your eternal soul to Satan, but it’s not really a good idea. 

    And it just looks bad on your CV.

    • #60
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