WASHINGTON _ Two FBI agents involved in the Russia investigation exchanged a series of insults about Donald Trump in private texts during the campaign last year, calling him an "idiot" and "awful," according to documents released to Congress by the Justice Department on Tuesday night.
Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III removed one of the agents, Peter Strzok, from the investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, as soon as the texts surfaced in July during an inspector general investigation. Strzok also was involved in the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails that concluded last year.
In a March 2016 exchange of texts with FBI lawyer Lisa Page, Strzok wrote: "Omg he's an idiot," according to messages obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
"He's awful," Page replied.
"America will get what the voting public deserves," Strzok said.
"That's what I'm afraid of," Page replied.
The texts were sent to several congressional committees late Tuesday, including the House Judiciary Committee. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is scheduled to testify before the committee Wednesday morning and is likely to face questions about them.
Republicans in Congress have been pressing the Justice Department to release the agents' texts, saying they suspect bias in the FBI's inquiries on Clinton and Russia interference.
The pair apparently were exchanging texts during a Republican presidential debate in March 2016. "Also did you hear (Trump) make a comment about the size of his d_earlier? This man can not be president," Page wrote.
After Page remarked that she had seen a Bernie Sanders bumper sticker, Strzok said: "He's an idiot like Trump. Figure they cancel each other out."
About a week after the election, they expressed horror at reports that then-Sen. Jeff Sessions was a leading candidate for the job of attorney general.
"Which is the f-ed uppedness of it ... .Sessions for AG," Strzok wrote.
"Good god," Page wrote back.
