WHITE HOUSE: New FBI records show 'extreme bias' against Trump
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- The White House said newly released FBI records show "extreme bias" against President Donald Trump among leadership at the FBI.
- A White House spokesman called text messages between former agents and edits to an FBI statement on its probe into Hillary Clinton "deeply troubling" and "eye-opening."
White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley on Friday said recently revealed FBI records show "extreme bias" against President Donald Trump among leadership at the FBI.
Recently disclosed text messages between two FBI agents who had been assigned to the ongoing investigation into Russia interference in the 2016 presidential election revealed a reference to Trump as an "idiot," among other things. Trump's allies have also homed in on revelations that a senior FBI official made edits to soften former FBI Director James Comey's statement concerning the agency's probe into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.
Gidley called the records "eye-opening" and "deeply troubling."
"There is extreme bias against this president with high-up members of the team there at the FBI who were investigating Hillary Clinton at the time," Gidley told "Fox & Friends on Friday morning.
Trump, who recently described the country's top law enforcement agency as "in tatters," is scheduled to deliver a speech at an FBI Academy graduation ceremony on Friday. Gidley said the president has "full faith and confidence" in the rank-and-file members of the Department of Justice and the FBI.
The texts were obtained as part of an investigation this year by the DOJ inspector general into how the FBI handled the probe into Clinton. Business Insider learned earlier this week that in a highly unusual move, the DOJ invited certain members of the media to view the messages before they were given to Congress, even though the department later said those disclosures "were not authorized."
Peter Strzok, a former counter-intelligence agent, was "immediately" ousted by special counsel Robert Mueller, who heads the Russia investigation, upon discovering the texts in July, according to Politico and USA Today. Lisa Page, the other agent in question, has reportedly ended her assignment with Mueller's team.
Copies of the 375 messages between the two agents were submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. They included snide remarks about other politicians, including then-Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley.
Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz on Friday said the DOJ was "forced" to release the messages because House Intelligence Chair Devin Nunes "was about to subpoena them."
Natasha Bertrand contributed to this report.
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