WASHINGTON — A veteran FBI counterintelligence agent was removed from special counsel Robert Mueller’s team investigating Russian election meddling after the discovery of an exchange of text messages seen as potentially anti-President Donald Trump, a person familiar with the matter said Saturday. The removal of the agent, who also had worked on the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, occurred this summer. Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller, said Mueller removed the agent, Peter Strzok, from the team “immediately upon learning of the allegations.” He would not elaborate on the nature of the accusations. The swift removal almost certainly reflected a desire to insulate the investigators from any claims of political bias or favouritism. On Saturday, Trump tweeted that he “had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice-President and the FBI.

Source: National Post December 02, 2017 17:46 UTC