FBI agents' anti-Trump texts were a bad idea: Robert Ray
Former Whitewater independent counsel Robert Ray on the political fallout from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential race.
Peter Strzok, a top FBI agent on special counsel Robert Mueller’s team and a key investigator into the Hillary Clinton email server scandal, was removed from the Russian meddling investigation for reportedly sending anti-Trump text messages.
Former Whitewater independent counsel Robert Ray weighed in on Strzok’s reported texts, telling the FOX Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo, “I suppose we all have political views, the mistake is voicing them and making them public, and certainly in text messages. That’s a bad idea. Why is it a bad idea? Because it undermines public confidence in the fairness of the investigation.”
However, Ray said the overall significance of the incident should not be exaggerated.
“It’s one FBI agent, now he had a, you know, I think a significant role, but ultimately with regard to the Mueller investigation, Mueller is the one making the decisions not FBI agents.”
Bartiromo raised concerns that this was not an isolated incident, but an addition to a growing list of issues that could undermine public trust, including reports former Attorney General Loretta Lynch had advised former FBI Director James Comey to refer to the probe into Hillary Clinton’s server scandal as a ‘matter’ instead of an investigation, and Lynch’s tarmac meeting with former President Bill Clinton.
“That’s why you have to act quickly, I mean, I’m sure that Bob Mueller understands, and his actions reflect that he does understand, how damaging that can be and that’s why you have to take action and remove somebody from the investigation. It’s unfortunate,” Ray said on “Mornings with Maria.”