GOP lawmaker asks FBI agent about lying to wife over affair

GOP Rep. Louie Gohmert (Texas) tore into FBI agent Peter Strzok with deeply personal attacks on Thursday, questioning how many times the agent looked “innocently into [his] wife’s eyes” as he carried out an extramarital affair with FBI lawyer Lisa Page.

“I can’t help but wonder when I see you looking there with a little smirk — how many times did you look so innocently into your wife’s eye and lie to her about Lisa Page,” Gohmert asked Strzok during a joint hearing before the House Judiciary and House Oversight and Government Reform committees.

“The credibility of the witness is always an issue,” he continued as his remark drew immediate, loud protests from Democrats.

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“You need your medication,” Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.) shouted at Gohmert.

Other members called for the House Judiciary chairman to halt Gohmert’s treatment of the witness, calling it “outrageous,” “intolerable,” and “harassing the witness.”

While House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) allowed Strzok to respond to Gohmert’s remarks, the Texas lawmaker protested that it went against committee rules since he did not conclude his time with a question.

“Sir, well, that is quite a set of statements. I’m not quite sure where to start,” Strzok replied.

The agent maintained that he has “always told the truth.”

“Sir, first, I assure you under oath, as I also spoke during my interview a week or two ago, I have always told the truth. The fact that you would accuse me otherwise, the fact that you would question whether or not that is the sort of look I would engage with a family member who I have acknowledged hurting, goes more to a discussion about your character and what you stand for and what is going inside you than it does mine,” he said. 

“You lost your credibility,” Gohmert shot back.

“This is intolerable harassment of a witness!”

In a chaotic moment at House Judiciary hearing, Rep. Louie Gohmert asks FBI Agent Peter Strzok how many times he lied to his wife. The question drew cries of outrage from Democratic members. https://t.co/M3YsVmNmn5 pic.twitter.com/f0nEkO5ewO

— ABC News (@ABC) July 12, 2018

Strzok testified on Thursday for several hours about his role in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation and personal text messages he sent to then-girlfriend Page criticizing then-candidate Trump during the 2016 election.

Previously in the hearing, Gohmert, a fiery and vocal House Freedom Caucus member, called the controversial agent an embarrassment to the FBI and a liar.

“You’ve embarrassed them, you’ve embarrassed yourself,” he said, claiming that he has talked to FBI officials across the U.S.

-Updated 3:50 p.m.