The newest masters of CNN publicly claim to be turning over a new leaf for the network by purging overtly partisan characters like Brian Stelter and moving towards a more balanced style of reporting. But just when one starts to believe that there may be hope yet for the network, they shatter the optimism by booking an “expert” to appear on their shows who happens to be the least impartial individual anyone could possibly have picked from a whole host of potentials. Along with MSNBC, Atlanta-based CNN decided to trot out none other than disgraced FBI agent Peter Strzok to weigh in on the Bureau’s recent raid of Mar-a-Lago, the Florida home of former President Donald Trump.
As Tom Elliot, the founder of Grabien Media, told Fox News Digital, “Peter Strzok enjoys the rare distinction of being one of the only people to ever be fired from the federal government for performance. That alone should disqualify him from ever appearing in the media as some kind of expert.”
Throughout the country, one could find hundreds of retired FBI officials who are eminently qualified to provide analysis of any ongoing Bureau investigation. The overwhelming majority of these former feds have no public record of political bias – or personal animosity toward the 45th president. So, it isn’t as though CNN was faced with a limited choice. That the network went with Strzok is, apart from utterly predictable, indicative of the left-leaning establishment media’s absolute refusal to fairly present both sides of any political story.
The Unfortunately Unforgettable Peter Strzok
Everyone who followed the FBI’s exhaustive investigation into one of the biggest political hoaxes in living memory – the Trump-Russia conspiracy theory that turned out to be nothing more than whispers, innuendo, and unsubstantiated media reports – remembers Strzok. He was one of the leading officials working operation Crossfire Hurricane and was also personally responsible for a great deal of the mistrust so many Americans now feel toward the FBI and Department of Justice.
Peter Strzok (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
So unable was Strzok to control his emotions and political preferences that he exchanged with his mistress, FBI attorney Lisa Page, several text messages disparaging Trump and his supporters. He is also remembered for his cringe-worthy appearance at a congressional hearing. Like a misbehaving schoolboy who knows he’ll never be punished because his mother is the principle, Strzok wriggled in his seat and rolled his eyes with an unbearably smug grin on his face throughout the session. It was all very disturbing. One is tempted to wonder how he ever made it through the psych evaluation at Quantico.
And yet, Strzok could have used his newfound media personality status to redeem himself. After all, he is a former senior counterintelligence official. No doubt, he still maintains some channels of communication with currently serving agents and analysts. Thus, he could have provided the clueless over at CNN with some thought-provoking insight into how the FBI is managing the Mar-a-Lago affair while rising above the partisan punditry. Is he doing that, though? No, of course not. Instead, Strzok is merely opining and speculating wildly. He is ranting about the Republicans, and Trump’s name comes out of his mouth every 30 seconds or so. In short, Strzok is providing little of value to CNN’s reporting on the affair. Rather, he’s just another Trump-hating talking head. His years at the Bureau count for nothing, now, except the lasting damage he and a handful of others did to what should be America’s finest law enforcement agency.
Why is Peter Strzok so in demand, though? Because he’s a former FBI official? Because he hates Donald Trump? Those are only minor factors. The deeper reason is that the leftist media has never been willing to entirely let go of the Russia “collusion” myth. Also, the former president’s war on the Deep State and the larger Washington establishment unnerves – perhaps even terrifies – the statist media, with its many personal and family ties to the ruling class. What better person than Strzok to keep all these issues alive? With Strzok at the table, the anti-Trump media can pretend the collusion story never really died – and the former agent’s firing is a reminder of Trump’s war on the federal bureaucracy. For the FBI, however, his continued appearances on national TV serve only to open old wounds, enflame suspicions about that agency’s political motivations, and prevent the once-respected folks at the J. Edgar Hoover building from throwing off a rapidly worsening public image. Whether that reputation is justified or not, Strzok damages it further every time he opens his mouth.
