Trump’s Ex-Chief of Staff Says He Discussed Using IRS to Retaliate Against FBI Employees Investigating Him
By Michael LucianoJul 7th, 2023, 10:35 pm
During his presidency, Donald Trump discussed having the Internal Revenue Service conduct investigations into two FBI agents probing his 2016 campaign’s alleged ties to Russia, according to a sworn statement by his former chief of staff, John Kelly.
The news was first reported by the New York Times on Friday evening.
The publication reported that Trump suggested using the tax collecting agency to target Peter Strzok and Lisa Page:
Mr. Kelly said that his recollection of Mr. Trump’s comments to him was based on notes that he had taken at the time in 2018. Mr. Kelly provided copies of his notes to lawyers for one of the F.B.I. officials, who made the sworn statement public in a court filing.
“President Trump questioned whether investigations by the Internal Revenue Service or other federal agencies should be undertaken into Mr. Strzok and/or Ms. Page,” Mr. Kelly said in the statement. “I do not know of President Trump ordering such an investigation. It appeared, however, that he wanted to see Mr. Strzok and Ms. Page investigated.”The Times noted the statement, which was submitted under penalty of perjury, was revealed on Thursday as part of a lawsuit being filed by Strzok and Page. Strzok led the FBI’s investigation into possible ties between Trump and the Russian government. Page was a lawyer with the bureau. The two allege Trump violated their privacy when his administration publicly disclosed text messages between the two.
The report noted it is unclear whether the IRS ended up probing the tax filings of the two, who were also found to have had an affair. Both were dismissed by the FBI.
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https://www.mediaite.com/trump/trumps-ex-chief-of-staff-says-he-discussed-using-irs-to-retaliate-against-fbi-employees-investigating-him/
