Former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly said in a sworn statement that former President Donald Trump asked about using the Internal Revenue Service to go after Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, a pair of FBI officials involved in the investigation into his campaign's ties to Russia, reported The New York Times on Friday.
"Mr. Kelly said that his recollection of Mr. Trump’s comments to him was based on notes that he had taken at the time in 2018. Mr. Kelly provided copies of his notes to lawyers for one of the F.B.I. officials, who made the sworn statement public in a court filing," reported Michael Schmidt. "'President Trump questioned whether investigations by the Internal Revenue Service or other federal agencies should be undertaken into Mr. Strzok and/or Ms. Page,' Mr. Kelly said in the statement. 'I do not know of President Trump ordering such an investigation. It appeared, however, that he wanted to see Mr. Strzok and Ms. Page investigated.'"
Schmidt continues:
"Mr. Kelly’s assertions were disclosed on Thursday in a statement that was filed in connection with lawsuits brought by Peter Strzok, who was the lead agent in the F.B.I.’s Russia investigation, and Lisa Page, a former lawyer in the bureau, against the Justice Department for violating their privacy rights when the Trump administration made public text messages between them," said the report. "The disclosures from Mr. Kelly, made under penalty of perjury, demonstrate the extent of Mr. Trump’s interest in harnessing the law enforcement and investigative powers of the federal government to target his perceived enemies. In the aftermath of Richard M. Nixon’s presidency, Congress made it illegal for a president to 'directly or indirectly' order an I.R.S. investigation or audit."
Strzok, who had an extramarital affair with Page, was removed from the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller in response to the right-wing fury over the text messages, which expressed a hope that Trump would not be elected president.
Strzok was later fired from the FBI altogether. He has filed a lawsuit alleging wrongful termination, saying he was politically targeted.
Earlier this week, a federal judge ruled that Strzok could not depose Trump as part of that lawsuit until FBI Director Christopher Wray had been questioned; it is standard policy for lower-ranking government officials to be questioned in cases like this ahead of higher-ranking ones.
