US: Ex-FBI agent Strzok due out with book about Trump, Russia

Former FBI counterintelligence nt Peter Strzok, who played a key role in Russia investigation but whose pejorative text messs about Donald Trump during 2016 campaign me him a target of president’s wrath, is releasing a book on his concerns president could be compromised.

“Compromised: Counterintelligence and Threat of Donald J. Trump” is due out Sept. 8, publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books & Media said in a statement to Associated Press.

book will offer an insider’s view on some of most sensational and politically freighted investigations in modern American history, including into wher 2016 Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to sway presidential election. Due out two months before vember election, book ds to list of first-person accounts from or senior FBI and Justice Department officials during Trump era.

“Russia has long regarded United States as its ‘Main Enemy,’ and I spent deces trying to protect our country from ir efforts to weaken and undermine us,” Strzok said Tuesday in a statement accompanying book anuncement.

“In this book,” he ded, “I use that background to explain how elevation by President Trump and his collaborators of Trump’s own personal interests over interests of country allowed Putin to succeed beyond Stalin’s wildest dreams, and how national security implications of Putin’s triumph will persist through our next election and beyond.”

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As a senior counterintelligence nt with more than 20 years at FBI, Strzok helped le investigation into wher Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton mishandled classified information on private email server she relied on as secretary of state. FBI ultimately recommended against criminal charges.

He also played a pivotal role in Russia investigation, including by interviewing former national security viser Michael Flynn about his contacts with Russian ambassor during presidential transition period.

Strzok briefly served on special counsel Robert Mueller’s team but was removed from his role after Justice Department inspector general flagged derogatory and pejorative text messs about Trump that Strzok sent and received during 2016 campaign.

Strzok fired from FBI in 2018

Once texts were me public, Strzok became a regular Twitter target of Republican president’s attacks, with Trump alleging that Strzok and ors in FBI h plotted against his campaign and h even committed treason — an accusation that Strzok’s lawyer rejected as “beyond reckless.” text messs were exchanged with an FBI lawyer, Lisa P, and Trump routinely refers to two of m toger as “ lovers.”

At a fiery, daylong congressional hearing in July 2018, Strzok insisted that he never allowed personal viewpoints to influence his work, though he did ackwledge being dismayed by Trump’s behaviour during campaign.

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text messs featured prominently in inspector general investigations into Clinton and Russia probes, but watchdog office said it did t find evidence in eir case that actions that Strzok and or FBI officials took were motivated by political bias.

Strzok was fired from FBI in August 2018, though he has since sued over termination. He remains a frequent target of Trump’s scornful tweets. In a statement anuncing book, publishing company said: “ Trump ministration used his private expression of political opinions to force him out.”

“But by that time,” statement ded, “Strzok h seen more than eugh to convince him that commander in chief h fallen under sway of America’s versary in Kremlin.”

Though Mueller did t allege a criminal conspiracy between Moscow and Trump campaign, publisher said that in book, Strzok “grapples with a question that should concern every U.S. citizen: When a president appears to favor personal and Russian interests over those of our nation, has he become a national security threat?”

Former FBI Director James Comey and former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe have each released books that describe aspects of Trump investigation. Andrew Weissmann, a former Justice Department prosecutor who served on Mueller’s team, is due out with a book in September.

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