The Justice Department inspector general released a 500-plus page report on misconduct by FBI agents and DOJ staff working on the Hillary Clinton investigations. Among many other topics, the IG report documents the content of texts and instant messages sent by FBI agents.
The communications show favoritism towards Hillary in the agents’ personal views, but also in how various aspects of the investigation should be conducted. They also reveal a rancid contempt towards Donald Trump as well as Americans who support him.
The report concludes that FBI agents on the Hillary investigation most likely engaged in misconduct by allowing their politics to manifest in the investigation process:
We believe the messages discussed in this chapter — particularly the messages that intermix work-related discussions with political commentary — potentially implicate provisions in the FBI’s Offense Code and Penalty Guidelines, which provides general categories of misconduct for which FBI employees may be disciplined.
The texts and communications by the investigative team reveal contempt toward Trump and mainstream America.
One FBI agent on the Hillary investigation wrote in an FBI text:
Trump’s supporters are all poor to middle class, uneducated, lazy POS.
“POS” is the agent’s acronym for “Pieces Of S***.”
The IG report details many communications where discussions of politics were mixed with discussions of official actions surrounding the Hillary investigation. In one example, FBI official Peter Strzok discusses the need to hurry up and write a closing memo on the Hillary investigation:
Strzok and Page exchanged a series of text messages on July 26, 2016, while they appeared to be watching television coverage of the Democratic National Convention. In the course of this exchange, Page texted, “Yeah, it is pretty cool. [Clinton] just has to win now. I’m not going to lie, I got a flash of nervousness yesterday about trump. The sandernistas have the potential to make a very big mistake here….”
Strzok responded, “I’m not worried about them. I’m worried about the anarchist Assanges who will take fed information and disclose it to disrupt. We’ve gotta get the memo and brief and case filing done.”
In an exchange discussing an impending FBI interview with Hillary Clinton, Strzok and Lisa Page discuss not having many FBI resources at the interview because of the likelihood Hillary would be the next president — and that she “would remember” if they came “loaded for bear”:
In connection with a discussion about how many people from the FBI and Department should be present during a potential interview of former Secretary Clinton, Page stated in a February 24, 2016 text message to Strzok, “One more thing: she might be our next president. The last thing you need us going in there loaded for bear. …
Page sent similar text messages to McCabe and another FBI employee around the same time, adding that having a larger number in the room “is not operationally necessary” and that “[t]his is as much about reputational protection as anything.”
In another FBI communication, Strzok says he visited a rural Virginia Walmart — and the customers had a political odor:
Just went to a southern Virginia Walmart. I could SMELL the Trump support….
Strzok does not say he could see Trump support, or hear it discussed. Rather, he smelled it among the customers.
In an August 8, 2016 FBI text, FBI official Strzok says they would stop Trump from becoming president:
Page stated, “[Trump’s] not ever going to become president, right? Right?!” Strzok responded, “No. No he’s not. We’ll stop it.”
The anti-Trump bias on the FBI team investigating Hillary Clinton extended to multiple agents beyond Strzok and Page, who regularly sent texts critical of Trump and supportive of Hillary.
Other FBI agents on the Hillary investigation ridiculed the “average American public.” Others referred to Donald Trump as “Donald Drumpf” on FBI instant messages repeatedly.
Even after the election, FBI agents complained about being on duty on Inauguration Day. “F*** Trump,” wrote one agent on the Hillary investigation in an FBI communication.
The IG report concluded that the conduct of five FBI employees on the Hillary investigation “has brought discredit to themselves, sowed doubt about the FBI’s handling of the Midyear investigation, and impacted the reputation of the FBI.”
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