Peter Strzok facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Peter Strzok
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FBI government photo
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| Born |
Peter Paul Strzok II
March 7, 1970 |
| Alma mater | Georgetown University (BA, MA) |
| Occupation | Former FBI agent |
| Spouse(s) | Melissa Hodgman |
Peter Strzok (born March 7, 1970) is a former agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He worked in the FBI's Counterintelligence Division. This division protects the U.S. from spies and foreign threats. He led important investigations, including one about Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections and another about Hillary Clinton's emails.
In 2017, Strzok joined a special investigation led by Robert Mueller. This team looked into possible links between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and the Russian government. However, Strzok was removed from this team in July 2017. This happened after text messages between him and another FBI lawyer, Lisa Page, were found. These messages showed they had criticized Donald Trump.
News of these text messages caused a lot of discussion. Some people, including Trump and some politicians, thought Strzok was part of a plan to harm Trump's presidency. On August 10, 2018, the FBI fired Strzok because of these text messages.
Strzok later sued the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice. He said his firing was wrong and that his text messages were "protected political speech." He also said his firing went against his First Amendment rights. In 2020, he wrote a book called Compromised: Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. Trump. Today, Strzok teaches at Georgetown University and co-hosts a podcast.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Peter Strzok was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. His father was a retired United States Army officer. His father served in the military for 21 years. Peter even went to elementary school in Tehran, Iran, before the Iranian Revolution.
For high school, Strzok went to St. John's Preparatory School in Minnesota. He graduated in 1987. He then earned two degrees from Georgetown University. After college, Strzok served as an officer in the U.S. Army. He left the Army to join the FBI in 1996. Strzok is married to Melissa Hodgman. She works at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Peter Strzok's Work at the FBI
Peter Strzok worked for the FBI for 22 years. He was a lead agent in "Operation Ghost Stories." This operation was against a Russian spy couple who were part of a secret spy network. In 2015, he became the chief of the Counterespionage Section. This section is part of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division.
Strzok led a team investigating Hillary Clinton's use of a personal email server. He helped write public statements for the FBI Director at the time, James Comey. Strzok changed a description of Clinton's actions from "grossly negligent" to "extremely careless." This change was part of a team effort. Later, Strzok supported reopening the Clinton investigation when new emails were found. He also helped write a letter to Congress about it.
Strzok became a Deputy Assistant Director in the Counterintelligence Division. He was a top official for investigations involving Russia. He led the FBI's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. He also looked into the Steele dossier and Russia's role in the 2016 email leaks. He oversaw interviews with Michael Flynn, who was a National Security Advisor.
In July 2017, Strzok became a senior FBI agent on Robert Mueller's special investigation team. This team looked into any links between Trump's campaign and the Russian government. He was considered one of the FBI's most experienced investigators. He was also seen as a top expert on Russia.
Strzok left the investigation in July 2017. This happened after his personal text messages with FBI lawyer Lisa Page were found. These messages criticized Donald Trump. The Justice Department's Inspector General (IG) looked into how the FBI handled investigations related to the election. The IG's report was released on June 14, 2018.
The day after the report, Strzok was escorted from FBI headquarters. This meant the FBI planned to fire him. On August 10, 2018, FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich fired Strzok. This decision went against a recommendation from an FBI office. That office had suggested Strzok only be suspended for 60 days and demoted.
Text Messages and Reactions
The Inspector General's investigation looked at thousands of text messages. These messages were sent between Strzok and Lisa Page. They were sent between August 2015 and December 2016. Some texts criticized then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. Strzok called Trump an "idiot" in one message. He also texted "God Hillary should win 100,000,000 - 0" after a Republican debate.
Strzok and Page also talked about creating a Special Counsel to investigate the Clinton email issue. When these messages were found, Robert Mueller removed Strzok from his investigation team. Strzok's colleagues said he never showed political bias in his work. FBI rules allow agents to have political opinions as individuals. Former FBI officials said it was common for agents to have opinions but still do fair investigations.
The Justice Department's choice to make these private messages public was controversial. A review of Strzok's messages by The Wall Street Journal found that texts criticizing Trump were a small part of the thousands of messages. The review found "no evidence of a conspiracy against Mr. Trump."
The Inspector General's report on the FBI's handling of the Clinton email investigation criticized Strzok's text messages. It said they made it look like there might have been unfairness. However, the report found no proof of bias in the FBI's decision not to charge Clinton. In one text, after Page asked if Trump would become president, Strzok replied: "No. No he won't. We'll stop it."
At a public hearing in July 2018, Strzok said his personal beliefs did not affect his FBI work. He explained that the "We'll stop Trump" text was written late at night. It was after Trump had criticized the family of a fallen American soldier. Strzok said the message showed his belief that Americans would not vote for someone who acted that way. He said it was not a suggestion that the FBI would improperly affect the election.
A December 2019 report by the Justice Department inspector general also mentioned the text about stopping Trump. But it said Strzok's actions were not due to bias. It also said he did not have too much influence in starting the FBI investigation into Russian meddling.
Public and Congressional Reactions
Republicans used Strzok's messages to question how fair Mueller's investigation was. Some conservative news outlets and politicians used the texts to try and discredit the Mueller investigation. President Trump falsely claimed that 19,000 text messages were "purposely & illegally deleted." This claim was rated as false by fact-checkers.
Some commentators on Fox News used Strzok's messages to criticize the Mueller investigation. One commentator suggested the investigation was a "coup" against President Trump. Another called for a "war" against the "deep state." One guest even suggested the texts were evidence of a plot for "an assassination attempt" against Trump. Other Fox hosts quickly said this was not believable.
In Congress, some Republicans, like Senator Chuck Grassley, questioned Strzok's "insurance policy" text. In this text, Strzok said: "It's like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before you're 40." Sources close to Strzok said he was not planning to use the FBI investigation to harm Trump. Instead, he meant they needed to quickly investigate leads about Trump's team and Russia. This was important in case Trump's associates got government jobs.
In January 2018, Senator Ron Johnson said that the FBI's system had failed to save five months of texts between Strzok and Page. A Justice Department official later said this technical problem affected thousands of FBI phones.
Some Republicans also claimed that Strzok and Page were part of a "secret society" against Trump. ABC News obtained the message they were referring to. It seemed the "secret society" message might have been a joke. Senator Johnson later said it was a "real possibility" that the messages were made in jest.
After the FBI
Lawsuit
Strzok sued the Justice Department and the FBI on August 6, 2019. He asked to get his job back and receive back pay. He said the Justice Department fired him because of "unrelenting pressure" from Trump. Strzok argued that his comments in private texts were "protected political speech." He also said the Justice Department violated his privacy by releasing his texts. He claimed his firing went against his First Amendment rights.
His lawsuit was combined with one from Lisa Page. She also sued the FBI and Justice Department. In May 2024, Strzok and Page reached a settlement with the Justice Department. Strzok will receive $1.2 million, and Lisa Page will receive $800,000.
Book and Teaching
In September 2020, Strzok's book, Compromised: Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. Trump, was published. It became a bestseller. In an interview, Strzok confirmed that the FBI had started a broad investigation into Trump. This was after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey in May 2017. The investigation was based on concerns about Trump's "financial entanglements" with Russia.
Since October 2020, Strzok has been a professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. He also co-hosts a podcast called Cleanup On Aisle 45.
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