- The Washington Times - Friday, July 6, 2018

Two House committees have pushed back the public testimony of Peter Strzok, the FBI agent who vowed to stop President Trump from winning the 2016 election, after his attorney threatened to ignore the subpoena.

Mr. Strozk is now expected to testify in a public hearing on July 12. Initially, the House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform committees had initially scheduled his appearance on July 10.

The switch comes after the embattled G-man’s lawyer, Aitan Goelman, said his attorney may not comply with the subpoena issued Tuesday.

“We just got this subpoena today, so I don’t know whether or not we are going to be testifying next Tuesday in front of these two particular House committees,” Mr. Goelman told CNN earlier this week.

When asked why his client won’t testify, Mr. Goelman said he has come to the conclusion that the hearings are “not a search for truth,” but rather “a chance for Republican members of the House to preen and posture before their most radical, conspiracy-minded constituents.”

“From our experience with the committee thus far, it is obvious that they don’t want the truth,” he added. “They don’t want to hear what Pete has to say.”

Mr. Goelman has accused Republicans of playing political games with the anti-Trump FBI agent’s 11-hour private testimony last week before both House committees. In a letter to members of the House Judiciary Committee, Mr. Goelman referred to the public testimony as “a trap.”

Mr. Strzok was a key figure in the Hillary Clinton email investigation and, briefly, a member of special counsel Robert Mueller’s team probing Russian collusion with the Trump campaign.

He was later removed from the Russia investigation after Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz showed Mr. Mueller text messages disparaging Mr. Trump from Mr. Strzok to FBI attorney Lisa Page, who was also his mistress.

Lawmakers grilled the FBI agent last week over whether his animosity towards Mr. Trump influenced his role in either investigation.

Mr. Goelman said Republicans “rushed to mischaracterize” Mr. Strzok’s testimony by calling him a liar and telling reporters he refused to answer many questions on the advice of counsel.

• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.

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