Republicans Thought Peter Strzok Would Be a Punching Bag. He Just Knocked Them Out
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
'NO SENSE OF DECENCY'
Republicans Thought Peter Strzok Would Be a Punching Bag. He Just Knocked Them Out.
He was supposed to be a key in the imaginary conspiracy Trump’s congressional lackeys and media fantasists have desperately tried to write as history. He was having none of it.
Those who forget the lessons of televised congressional hearings are doomed to repeat them, which is why the morning segment of the Capitol Hill show trial of veteran FBI agent and former head of the Bureau’s Counterespionage division Peter Strzok turned into a disaster for Republicans.
Donald Trump’s congressional enablers, sycophants, and political suck-ups wanted a punching bag, but Strzok instead delivered one of the rarest of moments: the full Joseph N. Welch.
Welch, the chief counsel for the U.S. Army during the infamous McCarthy hearings in 1954, had reached a breaking point. After McCarthy’s tendentious badgering reached a fever pitch, Welch delivered a famous rejoinder that ended the Wisconsin senator’s career. Watched by millions on live television, Welch went full beast-mode.
“If it were in my power to forgive you for your reckless cruelty I would do so,” said Welch. “I like to think I am a gentleman, but your forgiveness will have to come from someone other than me… You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”
This morning, it was Strzok’s turn. After an hour of drama-queen badgering from Trey “Benghazi” Gowdy and Bob Goodlatte, Strzok issued two passionate statements that will be the takeaways from an otherwise disorganized and contentious shitshow of a hearing before the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees.
The first was a ringing defense of the FBI, with Strzok showing the kind of real passion that makes for great television. The FBI lifer issued a ringing defense of himself and his agency, punching Gowdy hard in the nose.
“I can assure you, Mr. Chairman, at no time, in any of these texts, did those personal beliefs ever enter into the realm of any action I took. Furthermore, this isn’t just me sitting here telling you you don’t have to take my word for it. At every step, at every investigative decision, there are multiple layers of people above me, the assistant director, executive assistant director, deputy director, and director of the FBI, and multiple layers of people below me, section chiefs, supervisors, unit chiefs, case agents and analysts, all of whom were involved in all of these decisions. They would not tolerate any improper behavior in me any more than I would tolerate it in them.”
He closed with this fastball:
“That is who we are as the FBI. And the suggestion that I in some dark chamber somewhere in the FBI would somehow cast aside all of these procedures, all of these safeguards and somehow be able to do this is astounding to me. It simply couldn’t happen. And the proposition that that is going on, that it might occur anywhere in the FBI, deeply corrodes what the FBI is in American society, the effectiveness of their mission, and it is deeply destructive.”
The second was a shot across Donald Trump’s bow: “I understand we are living in a political era in which insults and insinuation often drown out honesty and integrity. I have the utmost respect for Congress’s oversight role, but I truly believe that today’s hearing is just another victory notch in Putin’s belt and another milestone in our enemies’ campaign to tear America apart.”
This latest spectacle was designed for one purpose only: the destruction of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Donald Trump’s Russia ties. Republicans like Fredo Nunes who have tried to present a series of dramatic, table-flipping reality TV moments to reach that goal have failed time and again to derail the Mueller investigation. This morning was yet another swing-and-a-miss for the Trump GOP.
Because Trump supporters live in a hermetic media echo chamber, these hearings are part of a predictable, hokey Kabuki dance. They’re a device for generating a new round of hyperbolic base-only stories that will follow the same dumb arc as all the rest. In the coming days, you’ll see Sean Hannity flirt with apoplexy, coating the camera lens with flecks of spittle as he rants over Strzok’s perfidy. You’ll see pro-Trump columnists herniate themselves stretching to turn flippant text messages into a vast conspiracy. Twitter will be a flood of moronic memes, white-hot takes, and promises that Strzok will soon be in Gitmo alongside Hillary, Obama, Podesta, and Soros.
Strzok was supposed to be a key in the imaginary conspiracy that Trump's congressional lackeys and media fantasists have desperately tried to write as history. The idea that his text messages poison the entire Mueller investigation was a pillar of their defense of the president. This morning they were going for a quick kill. They needed Strzok to flail, and wilt. The Gowdy, Goodlatte, and Gaetz types needed their grandstanding, dick-waving mock outrage to leave Strozk shaking and begging for mercy.
Strzok had none of it. In this morning’s round he left the Trumpists of the House staggered in their corner, cut and shaky, wondering where Strzok learned to hit back that hard.
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The idiocy of the GOP was on full display for all to see.
As an aside, I thought He was thinking about getting up and giving Gohmert a good slap along side His head, when Gohmert decided to bring His wife into the mix.
What purpose did it serve for Gohmert to bring up that affair? Gohmert made an ass of himself
Perplexing. Why is there such effort to protect Donald J. Trump?
It is time for every member of congress to have their campaigns audited and be forced to take a 'lie detector test' concerning their knowledge or relationships with foreign entities.
Gohmert? Well, he is simply a reflection of the--------****that populates the district.
I want to see what's on THEIR cell phones
FOIA
You just have to submit a request for this information under the Freedom of Information Act.
I'm not sure the process for cell phones but I imagine it's similar to emails and other documents requested under the FOIA. When the FOIA is received the responsible parties are notified about it and given instructions that they are not to delete or alter any information that would fall under that FOIA request. They are given a time frame to submit the requested information, it goes through an internal review process (for confidential info) and then released to the requester. Again, I'm not sure what the process is for cell phones.
I think every single Congressman should have this information requested.
Ya know....you just gave me an idea
I hope others have that same idea. What a treasure trove of information waiting to be uncovered.
Yesterday's hearing was a despicable display of what the Republican leaders have become in the House. They are nothing more than another arm of the Kremlin.
All this article proves is that the left is trapped in liberal bubble so thick and airtight that they can't even think straight anymore from lack of oxygen.
First of all Trump is no danger of anything from Mueller. Unless Mueller has been hanging on the most devasting secret inside of all time nothing is going to happen to Trump. The whole "this is a distraction" line only works if somebody is so deep in unproven conspiracy theories that they can't even see reality anymore.
Second of all Strzok didn't do anything but his smug arrogance on display- the exact same thing the left has done for decades and hasn't help them win any elections. His performance was no more impressive than the "Hillary sat there for 11 hours" nonsense. What did the left think might happen? That Strzok was going to give a full confession of all his misdeeds on camera?
The only thing that was proven was that Strzoks "appearance of bias" is a lot farther from the truth than the "appearance of Russian collision".
So when will it be Trump's turn to sit for questioning? Or is he too afraid to?
I'd be all for Trump being questioned- if he got the same treatment as Hillary: A pre interview exoneration and no notes taken. And Trump is allowed to say "I can't recall" as many times as he wants with six lawyers present.
Trump is too stupid to be afraid, it's his defense team that is afraid because they know that idiot cannot speak for more than a minute without lying.
Sessions has already proven that you can do that as many times as he wants, when he tripled the number of times compared to Hillary.
This guy is dirtier than Harvey Keitel in the Bad Lieutenant. Anyone that votes for Republicans will be happy to see his dastardly deeds exposed.
Oooooo - nice word. It's sooooooo dastardly.
I love the old cartoons!
Bummer that the IG already cleared him, eh? I guess you'll have to look elsewhere for fragile threads to support your loony conspiracy theories.
Isn't it fascinating to know that Strozk voted for Kasich as a write in because he didn't like either Trump or Hillary...…..Not one trumpublican was willing to ask him about that. Was the goal of the "deep state" to get Kasich elected? Major fail.
How are they going to prove he isn’t lying about that. Does anyone actually have proof of that?