Looks like next Wednesday is going to be Peter Strzok day, as he has been subpoenaed by the House Judiciary Committee to testify in their oversight hearing:
CNN – The House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed embattled FBI agent Peter Strzok Tuesday for a second round of questioning early next week, but this time it will be public.
Strzok, formerly the No. 2 counterintelligence official at the FBI, has been lambasted by Republicans lawmakers for the mountain of text messages he exchanged with former FBI lawyer Lisa Page disparaging then-candidate Donald Trump during the time the pair worked on the investigations into Hillary Clinton’s private email server and potential collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.
Strzok was interviewed last week for 11 hours, in both unclassified and classified settings, after House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte initially slapped him with a subpoena to testify last month, although the two sides ultimately agreed to a voluntary interview and the subpoena was withdrawn.
“Special Agent Strzok requested that the initial hearing be public and, one way or another, he will testify publicly soon,” said Aitan Goelman, Strzok’s attorney, in a statement to CNN on Tuesday. “Pete wants the American people to hear his testimony for themselves, instead of having his words leaked, twisted and mischaracterized by members of Congress. The only question is when and before what Committee, and those details are not yet settled.”
Goelman has maintained all along that his client is willing to testify publicly, but recently sent the House Judiciary Committee a blistering email, obtained by CNN, charging that the invitation for Strzok to return next week for a public grilling was a “trap” when the first transcript has yet to be released.
“If the Committees were actually interested in making sure the American people knew the truth, they would release the transcript of Pete’s previous testimony,” Goelman said Tuesday. “Their real intentions are made clear by the fact that they took his testimony in secret, selectively leaked parts of it and are now withholding the transcript from the public.”
Personally I don’t expect a lot to come from the hearing as Strzok will undoubtedly explain away his text messages as simply venting his frustrations. Or he’ll just respond that his lawyer has advised him not to answer.
But we’ll see.