Peter Strzok involved in drafting letter to re-open Clinton probe
FBI agent Peter Strzok was involved in the drafting of the letter that was used to effectively re-open the Hillary Clinton email investigation just days before the 2016 election, CBS News has confirmed.
CBS News' Andres Triay reports Strzok was involved in the letter sent from then-FBI Director James Comey to members of Congress on Oct. 28, 2016, after additional Clinton emails were discovered on the laptop belonging to Anthony Weiner. Weiner is a former congressman and the husband of top Clinton aide Huma Abedin.
Strzok's name came to prominence when text messages he exchanged with another FBI lawyer, Lisa Page, were made public. Some of those texts were anti-Trump in nature. Both Strzok and Page were working on the Clinton server investigation and would subsequently work on the FBI's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
The FBI's decision to resume the Clinton case has been a point of consideration for the Department of Justice's inspector general, which has been reviewing the DOJ and FBI's handling of the probe.
CNN first reported Strzok's involvement in the Oct. 28, 2016 letter to Congress.
Republicans in particular have pointed to the Strzok texts as possible evidence of bias in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.
The FBI was missing many of the texts between Strzok and Page, blaming a technical glitch on FBI-issued Samsung 5 phones. The DOJ inspector general has since located at least a portion of the missing texts.
CBS News' Andres Triay and Kathryn Watson contributed to this report.