2016 ELECTION/FBI/ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA INVESTIGATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump and his administration are cranking up the pressure on special counsel Robert Mueller to end his Russia investigation after FBI agent Peter Strzok, who shared anti-Trump text messages, was booted from the bureau. The president has long called Mueller’s probe into whether the Russian government colluded with Trump’s 2016 campaign, as well as related issues such as possible obstruction of justice by the president, a ‘witch hunt.’ But Strzok’s firing has added fuel to Trump’s push to end the investigation that has served as a drag on his presidency…Strzok was fired Friday [8-10-18] after FBI Director Christopher Wray overruled an internal disciplinary review that recommended Strzok’s demotion and a 60-day suspension. Strzok, along with former FBI attorney Lisa Page, have recently been Trump’s main targets after text messages between the two became public and revealed anti-Trump sentiments. Strzok was central to the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server, in addition to the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russians. Since the release of Strzok’s text messages, Republicans have alleged that both probes have been tainted. Counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway during an interview on Fox News on Tuesday [8-14-18] morning said that Strzok was ‘political’ about the investigations he worked on and ‘started digging up dirt’ on Trump because he was worried that ‘Hillary Clinton was such a weak, pathetic candidate.'”
–Rebecca Morin, “Trump muscles for end to Mueller probe after Strzok’s firing,” Politico, August 14, 2018 10:44 am