NewsNation host Chris Cuomo brought in fired FBI agent Peter Strzok to discuss the recent news concerning Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s contact with Hunter Biden and alleged attempts to hide that interaction when speaking to Congress.
Strzok was fired from the FBI in 2018 after several of his private text messages — many disparaging former President Donald Trump and Trump voters — were made public, but he has remained in the public eye as a political commentator. He argued that Blinken’s testimony was not so much an attempt to hide something criminal as it was an attempt to hide something politically damaging.
WATCH:
Former fed @PeteStrzok defends @SecBlinken falsely testifying in 2020 that he never emailed with Hunter Biden: "There’s a difference between catching somebody in a criminal act and catching them in a politically problematic act." pic.twitter.com/KqkZ95Mh9R
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) May 3, 2023
Cuomo referenced the claim made Sunday by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) when he told “Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo that Blinken had communicated via email with Hunter Biden in 2015 — but had then told Congress in 2020 that the two had not been in communication.
“Now, because of more information that’s come out, we know that he lied bold-faced to Congress about never e-mailing Hunter Biden,” Johnson said, adding, “My guess is, he told a bunch of other lies.”
Turning the question to Strzok, Cuomo asked whether he believed Blinken had been “caught” — and Strzok quickly downplayed that possibility.
“Well, Chris, I think there’s a difference between catching somebody in a criminal act and catching them in a politically problematic act,” he said. “As I read that transcript, this was a 2020 interview and they’re asking current Secretary Blinken about events that occurred in 2015.”
Strzok went on to concede that Blinken had clearly denied conversations that now appear to have taken place — but he said that was “still a long way from being a violation of the law,” and there was a lot of wiggle room for Blinken to simply say that he had not remembered any of those conversations.
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“For a criminal violation it would have to be a knowing and willful act,” he added. “And I think, frankly, that’s — what we know now — that’s a long way away from the facts. But that’s very separate from whether this is a political problem or not.”