Late this summer, former FBI agent Peter Strzok filed a lawsuit accusing the FBI and DOJ of political bias when they fired him. Strzok’s legal team has now added to their list of accusations:
Peter Strzok, the former FBI agent who launched the Russia probe in 2016 and was fired for sending anti-Trump text messages, is claiming the FBI and DOJ violated his rights to free speech and privacy https://t.co/oCOxPAhDNZ
— POLITICO (@politico) December 30, 2019
New: Peter Strzok has filed his opposition to DOJ's motion to dismiss his lawsuit. It raises pointed new questions about the ability of government employees to share personal opinions on matters of public interest—including on government-issued devices. https://t.co/ZWUREAYvPU
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) December 30, 2019
The new filing also argues that the FBI and DOJ’s burden in demonstrating that the texts were disruptive—and therefore warranted Strzok’s removal—is made heavier by the fact that DOJ made the exchanges public voluntarily.
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) December 30, 2019
And they note that there's no evidence FBI/DOJ has sought to similarly punish the FBI agents who, according to the newly released inspector general report, celebrated Trump’s election victory in private texts and volunteered to work on a probe of the Clinton Foundation.
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) December 30, 2019
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More from The Hill:
Strzok and his legal team made the claims in a court document filed Monday that pushes back on the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) motion to dismiss the lawsuit he filed in August over his ouster a year earlier.
DOJ alleged in its motion to dismiss that Strzok’s role in high-profile investigations meant he was held to a higher standard when it came to speech. But Strzok’s legal team disputed this in Monday’s filing, saying that the approximately 8,000 other employees in similar positions retain their privacy even when using government-issued devices.
These people (Strzok, Page, Comey, etc.) sure have chutzpah:
I suspect he's immune to the irony here that he violated the right to privacy of Carter Page
— ramechtly (@ramechtly) December 30, 2019
From the “You’ve got to be effing kidding me” file. https://t.co/FCTn95jY2f
— Harriet Baldwin ?? (@HarrietBaldwin) December 30, 2019
He had the right to use his own personal phone, on his own free time, with his own wife.
— Rack City (@CityMitch93) December 30, 2019
Homeboy texted his personal affairs on government property. Only an idiot uses a gov’t phones for personal use & then claims privacy violation.
— James_slinky (@OfSlinky) December 30, 2019
The text messages weren’t why you were fired, they were corroboration and evidence for reason you were fired.
— Caesar A. S. (@Sparatan_1) December 30, 2019
Earlier this month the IG report was released, and it showed numerous examples of wrongdoing, abuses of power and flat-out lying in order to get FISA court permission to surveil Carter Page.
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