WASHINGTON (AP) – The FBI has fired a longtime agent who once worked on special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation over text messages criticizing President Donald Trump.
Former agent Peter Strzok was removed from Mueller’s team a year ago after the text messages were first discovered, and the FBI had been reviewing his employment. Strzok’s lawyer said he was fired late Friday by FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich.
The lawyer, Aitan Goelman, criticized the firing in a statement Monday, saying he was removed because of political pressure and “to punish Special Agent Strzok for political speech protected by the First Amendment.” He said the firing “should be deeply troubling to all Americans.”
Goelman said that the FBI had overruled the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility, which he said had determined that a 60-day suspension and demotion from supervisory duties was “the appropriate punishment.”
The FBI did not have immediate comment.