Rep. Peter King on Thursday said the Justice Department inspector general's report disclosed the "shameful anti-Trump political bias of top FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page puts indelible cloud over Trump Russia investigation."
"Strzok, who signed off Russia probe, assured Page "we will stop" Trump from being elected," the New York Republican said on Twitter. "Absolutely disgraceful!"
In his 500-page report, Inspector General Michael Horowitz, found that former FBI Director James Comey was "insubordinate" in handling the probe into Hillary Clinton's private email use, damaging the agency and the Justice Department’s image of impartiality — though the investigation was not motivated by politics.
Horowitz found that five FBI officials expressed hostility toward Republican candidate Donald Trump before his election as president, disclosing that their actions have been referred to FBI officials for possible disciplinary action.
Horowitz cited the Strzok-Page texts, on Aug. 8, 2016, as one example of bias.
Page questioned whether Trump would become president.
Strzok replied: "No. No he's not. We’ll stop it."
Under those circumstances, Horowitz concluded, "we did not have confidence that Strzok’s decision to prioritize the Russia investigation over following up" on new evidence in the Clinton case "was free from bias."