The House Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed disgraced FBI agent Peter Strzok to publicly testify on the Hillary Clinton email probe and government surveillance of Trump campaign officials during the 2016 presidential election.
Peter Strzok was subpoenaed to testify in public on July 10 before a joint hearing convened by the House Judiciary and House Oversight and Government Reform Committees, chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) announced on Tuesday.
Aitan Goelman, an attorney for Strzok, said Monday his client no longer wishes to testify publicly over fears that lawmakers are setting a “trap.”
“Having sharpened their knives behind closed doors, the committee would now like to drag back Special Agent Strzok and have him testify in public — a request that we originally made and the committee denied,” wrote Goelman. “What’s being asked of Special Agent Strzok is to participate in what anyone can recognize as a trap.”
Goodlatte (R-VA) revealed last Wednesday that Strzok declined to answer questions during his closed-door testimony concerning his role in the Clinton email probe. The House investigator also noted the disgraced FBI agent refused to comment on possible interactions he had with Christopher Steele, the former British intelligence agent tasked with composing the infamous anti-Trump dossier.
“We went through a lot of questions about a lot of things for which we got answers, but we were also stymied time and time and time again because the FBI counsel instructed him not to answer because it was, as she called it, an ongoing investigation,” the Virginia lawmaker said. “Mr. Strzok was expected to answer questions regarding his involvement in both of these investigations.”
“So questions regarding has he ever communicated with Mr. Steele, or Glenn Simpson, who is a journalist, or other matters like this to find out what his role was in the start of that investigation is critical to our investigation, he continued. “And we need the answers to those questions. And we are now being blocked again from the FBI.”
President Donald Trump last week took aim at Strzok’s testimony and re-upped his criticism of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.
“Lover FBI Agent Peter Strzok was given poor marks on yesterday’s closed-door testimony and, according to most reports, refused to answer many questions,” President Trump began. “There was no Collusion and the Witch Hunt, headed by 13 Angry Democrats and others who are totally conflicted, is Rigged!”
“Peter Strzok worked as the leader of the Rigged Witch Hunt for a long period of time – he got it started and was only fired because the gig was up,” the President continued. “But remember, he took his orders from Comey and McCabe and they took their orders from you know who. Mueller/Comey best friends!”