A former top FBI official told lawmakers last summer that he confronted Peter Strzok and Lisa Page about their extramarital affair, fearing it would make them vulnerable to a foreign agent.
The disclosure came Tuesday as the transcript of Bill Priestap, the former assistant director of the bureau’s counterintelligence division was entered into the public record by Rep. Doug Collins, Georgia Republican.
Mr. Priestap told the House Judiciary Committee that he talked to the anti-Trump lovebirds about rumors they were having an affair, but he never asked them if there was truth to the workplace gossip at the bureau.
“[T]hey knew darn well that, if that was going on that potentially makes them vulnerable,” he said, according to the transcript of the closed-door hearing.
But he added that the FBI had “no information whatsoever” that either Mr. Strzok or Ms. Page had been contacted by a foreign adversary.
Mr. Strzok, who left the bureau last year, was a lead agent on some of the investigations involving 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and President Trump. the agent carried on an affair with Ms. Page, an FBI lawyer, exchanging thousands of text messages including several that suggested a severe bias against Mr. Trump.
The texts ranged from disparaging comments to investigating the president as a means to protect the country.
The ex-FBI official, who left the bureau late last year, told lawmakers he was surprised by the anti-Trump bias in the texts, saying “it wasn’t the Pete Strzok that I know.”
In one text to his paramour, Mr. Strzok cryptically referenced “an insurance” policy in the event Mr. Trump becomes elected president. Mr. Priestap said he was surprised by the text.
“Somebody talking about an insurance policy, I would have asked, ’What the heck do you mean by that?’ ” he said.
Mr. Preistap said he never asked the pair if they were having an affair but rather warned them to keep it out of the office.
“[W]hat I was trying to communicate is this better not interfere with things, if you know what I mean,” he said. “Like to me, the mission is everything. And so, we all have our personal lives, what have you. I’m not the morality police.”
The transcript is the latest release from Mr. Collins, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee. He recently made public transcripts from Justice Department official Bruce Ohr, Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos along with Mr. Strzok and Ms. Page.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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