Disgraced FBI official Peter Strzok delivered a fiery — and most likely well-rehearsed — speech during a joint hearing before the House Judiciary and Oversight committees Thursday morning. Strzok was attempting to explain away his infamous “We will stop it” text message to his paramour, fired FBI lawyer Lisa Page.
Striking a valiant pose, Strzok claimed that the text was written in defense of Muslim Gold Star father Khizr Khan, who had been criticized by then-candidate Trump during the 2016 election.
“Sir, I think it’s important when you look at those texts that you understand the context in which they were made and the things that were going on across America,” Strzok said. “In terms of the texts, ‘We will stop it,’ you need to understand these were written late at night, off the cuff, and in response to a series of events that included then candidate-Trump insulting the immigrant family of a fallen war hero.”
He added, stridently: “My presumption based on that horrible, disgusting behavior — that the American population would not elect somebody demonstrating that behavior to be President of the United States. It was in no way, unequivocally, any suggestion that me, the FBI would take any action whatsoever to improperly impact the electoral process for any candidate.”
Shockingly, the remarks drew enthusiastic applause from Democrats in the room:
In his speech at the Democratic convention in July 2016, Pakistan-born Khizr Khan fiercely attacked then-candidate Trump. He claimed that if it were up to Trump, his son never would have been American or served in the U.S. military:
Khan said Hillary Clinton, by contrast, “called [his] son the best of America.” Capt. Humayun Khan died in 2004 when a car loaded with explosives blew up at his compound. He was 27. Honoring his son, Khizr Khan pulled a copy of the Constitution out of his suit pocket and offered to lend it to Trump. “Look for the words ‘liberty’ and ‘equal protection of law,’” he said, standing next to his wife and waving the paperback document vigorously.
“Have you ever been to Arlington cemetery?” he then asked. “Go look at the graves of brave Americans who died defending United States of America. You will see all faiths, genders, and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing.”
Then-candidate Donald Trump took issue with Khan’s comments in an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos. Trump stated: “I think I’ve made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard.”
“I’ve created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs, built great structures. I’ve had tremendous success. I think I’ve done a lot,” Trump said, adding Khan “was, you know, very emotional and probably looked like a nice guy to me.”
Trump added offhandedly that the soldier’s father had delivered the entire speech because his mother was probably not “allowed” to speak.
“If you look at his wife, she was standing there. She had nothing to say. She probably — maybe she wasn’t allowed to have anything to say. You tell me,” he said.
It’s called politics — which is to say, not beanbag.
The remark prompted an immediate backlash and convulsions of virtue-signalling among Democrats and Never Trumpers as the Clinton campaign turned it into a major campaign issue. This was probably a mistake, as most Americans weren’t actually upset by the boorish remark.
In a separate statement later on, Trump praised the service of Capt. Khan, saying he was “a hero to our country and we should honor all who have made the ultimate sacrifice to keep our country safe.”
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