Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan said that the newest batch of text messages from FBI agents involved in the investigation into Russian “collusion” show that feelings against Donald Trump at the Bureau are worse than just biased, they actually show “animus” toward the president.
The latest series of texts between married FBI agent Peter Strzok and his FBI employee girlfriend, Lisa Page, reveal an even higher level of hatred for Donald Trump. The messages reveal feelings that Rep. Jordan thinks must have affected the agent’s judgment as he investigated first Hillary Clinton’s email scandal and later the supposed connections said to exist between then-candidate Donald Trump and Russian officials.
The texts are stark for their raw dislike of Trump, Fox News reported:
On Election Day 2016, Page wrote, “OMG THIS IS F***ING TERRIFYING.” Strzok replied, “Omg, I am so depressed.” Later that month, on Nov. 13, 2016, Page wrote, “I bought all the president’s men. Figure I need to brush up on Watergate.”
The next day, Nov. 14, 2016, Page wrote, “God, being here makes me angry. Lots of high fallutin’ national security talk. Meanwhile, we have OUR task ahead of us.”
The nature of the hatred and seeming conspiratorial talk hinting at a cabal against Trump expressed in the texts led Rep. Jordan to wonder how far the “animus” went in the Bureau.
In another text, agent Strzok repoted that Barack Obama was demanding frequent updates on their investigation. “POTUS wants to know everything we’re doing,” a text from September of 2016 reads.
This text seems to contradict what Obama himself said in April of 2016 when he told the media that he never put pressure on the FBI for any reason.
Jordan also questioned Obama’s actions.
“It certainly warrants investigation, and it certainly brings into a new perspective that there’s this idea from President Obama that there was no political influence at the top levels of the FBI,” Jordan said on Fox & Friends on Wednesday.
Jordan was also incensed that Strzok characterized Republicans as “hillbillies.”
“They talk about walking in Walmart and saying, ‘Oh, I can smell the Trump supporters,'” Jordan added. “The animus towards people who support President Trump is so obvious.”
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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