FBI Agent Kicked
WASHINGTON (AP) â A veteran FBI counterintelligence agent was removed from special counsel Robert Muellerâs 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 swift removal almost certainly reflected a desire to insulate the investigators from any claims of political bias or favoritism.  Trump  and many of  his  supporters have at times sought to discredit the investigation  in part by claiming a close relationship between Mueller and fired FBI Director James Comey and by pointing to political contributions to Democratic candidates made by some lawyers on the team.
Mueller has been investigating whether  Trump  campaign associates coordinated with Russia to influence the o+utcome of the 2016 presidential election  and Strzokâs background in counterintelligence would have been seen as particularly valuable for a secretive FBI probe examining foreign contacts.
On Saturday   Trump  tweeted that he âhad to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI. He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!â
The tweet suggests that  Trump  was aware when  he  dismissed Flynn on Feb. 13 that  he  had lied to the FBI  which had interviewed  him  weeks earlier.  Comey  has said that  Trump  the following day brought up the Flynn investigation in private at the White House and told  him  that  he  hoped  he  could âlet this go.â
The nature of the messages Strzok exchanged and with whom  he  communicated was not immediately clear. In  his  statement  Carr noted that an FBI lawyer  Lisa Page  had briefly been detailed to the team but left âbefore our office was aware of the allegations.â
WASHINGTON (AP) â A veteran FBI counterintelligence agent was removed from special counsel Robert Muellerâs team investigating Russian election meddling after the discovery of an exchange of text messages seen as   [TGT] said Saturday.
The swift removal almost certainly reflected a desire to insulate the investigators from any claims of political bias or favoritism.   [TGT] and many of   [TGT]   supporters have at times sought to discredit the investigation  in part by claiming a close relationship between Mueller and fired FBI Director James Comey and by pointing to political contributions to Democratic candidates made by some lawyers on the team.
Mueller has been investigating whether   [TGT] campaign associates coordinated with Russia to influence the o+utcome of the 2016 presidential election  and Strzokâs background in counterintelligence would have been seen as particularly valuable for a secretive FBI probe examining foreign contacts.
On Saturday    [TGT]   tweeted that  [TGT]  âhad to fire General Flynn because  [TGT]  lied to the Vice President and the FBI.  [TGT]  has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because  [TGT]  actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!â
The tweet suggests that   [TGT] was aware when   [TGT]   dismissed Flynn on Feb. 13 that   [TGT]   had lied to the FBI  which had interviewed   [TGT]   weeks earlier.  Comey  has said that  Trump  the following day brought up the Flynn investigation in private at the White House and told  him  that  he  hoped  he  could âlet this go.â
The nature of the messages Strzok exchanged and with whom  he  communicated was not immediately clear. In  his  statement  Carr noted that an FBI lawyer  Lisa Page  had briefly been detailed to the team but left âbefore our office was aware of the allegations.â