Trump is still ‘compromised by the Russians’: ex-FBI agent Peter Strzok
President Trump is still in thrall to Russia, former FBI agent Peter Strzok said Sunday.
“It is clear … Donald Trump is compromised by the Russians,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “They hold leverage over him that makes him incapable of placing the national interest, the national security ahead of his own.”
Strzok has a book coming out this week arguing that Trump is a national security threat.
He played key roles in FBI investigations into Hillary Clinton and Trump’s ties to Russia, but was fired in 2018 for sending anti-Trump text messages.
“I certainly regret sending the text messages that were absolutely weaponized and used to bludgeon the work of the FBI,” he said Sunday. “I’ll always regret that.”
Strzok assailed Trump’s personal ties — and those of his close affiliates — with Russia, which worked in 2016 to elect him president, according to U.S. intelligence agencies.
“When you take a look at the Trump financial enterprise, particularly its relationship with Russian, with Russian monies and potentially those related to organized crime and other elements, that those interactions have placed him in a position where the Russians have leverage over him and are able to influence his actions,” he said.
He also slammed former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s work with a pro-Kremlin Ukrainian lawmaker. The duo tried to find dirt on Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
“[Trump] is surrounded by people who have a pervasive pattern of contact with the Russians, and not only contact, but contact that they’re hiding,” Strzok said.
“With Rudy Giuliani dealing with somebody that … there is no president in modern history who has the same broad and deep connections to any foreign intel service, let alone a hostile government like Russia,” he added.
