Rep. Jim Jordan on Wednesday ripped the explanation by fired FBI agent Peter Strzok's attorney on a "media leak strategy" during the Russia investigation, saying the information "doesn't pass the smell test."
"The argument that Mr. Strzok is making doesn't hold water and doesn't pass the smell test," the Ohio Republican told Fox News. "The same guy said, 'we'll stop Trump' and same people said, 'Trump should lose.'
"Their bias was clear from some of the earlier text messages," he added. "Now there was a media leak strategy to influence this whole thing.
"We know this from the inspector general's report."
Aitan Goelman, Strzok's attorney, said that newly released texts between his client and former lawyer Lisa Page discussing the strategy were misinterpreted and referred to efforts being made to stop leaks on the Moscow investigation.
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina told Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Monday that he had "grave concerns" about an "apparent systemic culture of media leaking" of information by top FBI and Justice Department officials that was damaging to President Donald Trump.
Meadows cited two text exchanges in the latest cache between Strzok and Page, who also were lovers, in April 2017 that discussed the "media leak strategy."
Jordan, who co-founded the conservative Freedom Caucus, cited the Justice Department inspector general's report from June that disclosed that 13 different FBI staffers were working with one news reporter.
"If that doesn't point to some kind of 'media leak strategy,' I don't know what does."
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