This new reporting from CNN is a narrative killer for the GOP, which has eagerly sought to pin Donald Trump's trouble with the law on the FBI.
Emails obtained by CNN show the FBI agent at the center of a Capitol Hill storm played a key role in a controversial FBI decision that upended Hillary Clinton's campaign just days before the 2016 election: the letter to Congress by then-FBI Director James Comey announcing the bureau was investigating newly discovered Clinton emails.
The new revelation about FBI agent Peter Strzok comes as Republicans accuse him of being sympathetic to Clinton while seeking to undermine Donald Trump during the heat of the 2016 campaign season.
Strzok, who co-wrote what appears to be the first draft that formed the basis of the letter Comey sent to Congress, also supported reopening the Clinton investigation once the emails were discovered on disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner's laptop, according to a source familiar with Strzok's thinking. The day after Strzok sent his draft to his colleagues, Comey released the letter to Congress, reigniting the email controversy in the final days of the campaign.
So Strzok effectively helped deliver Donald Trump to the presidency. How perfect. Trump has not only been maligning the FBI, but Republican zealots have been specifically and falsely blaming the very person at the FBI who, however unwittingly, helped stoke voter doubts about Clinton and give Trump a strategic edge a week out from Election Day.
Now for the only part of this story that will make Fox News:
Strzok did, however, harbor reservations about Comey making a public announcement just days before the election and sent a text message to that effect, two sources said. And Strzok's text messages provided to Congress show him grappling with the fallout of making the letter public, according to a CNN review of his texts.
Oh goodness, gray area. That's really beyond the pale for Republican lawmakers and their base.
While Strzok was removed from the Mueller probe last year, he also was deeply involved in the Clinton investigation and sought to pursue it "aggressively," according to the source familiar with Strzok's thinking.
Sorry GOP, maybe you should just scrap this talking point.