Two more officials cited in FBI texts step down
Two more senior government officials who were prominently discussed in text messages exchanged by FBI personnel formerly assigned to the Trump-Russia investigation are leaving their positions.
Mike Kortan, FBI assistant director for public affairs, is set to retire next week, an FBI spokeswoman confirmed. In addition, the chief of the Justice Department’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, David Laufman, resigned this week, a department spokesman said.
Both men are discussed in text messages sent by senior FBI Agent Peter Strzok and FBI attorney Lisa Page. President Donald Trump and many Republican lawmakers have argued that the texts are evidence of anti-Trump bias at senior levels of the Justice Department and FBI.
While the texts contain derogatory mentions of Trump, the messages made public thus far don’t attribute that sentiment to Kortan or Laufman, and there’s no indication that either departure is related to the recent flap.
Kortan, who has headed the FBI’s media operation since 2009, has told colleagues for months or longer that he was on the verge of retirement. The imminent nature of his departure was first reported byFox News.
Laufman’s exit is more surprising. It was first reported byThe Washington Post, which said he told colleagues he was leaving for personal reasons.
Laufman had served since 2014 as the top Justice Department official overseeing espionage investigations, as well as cases involving foreign lobbying and leaks of classified information. That put Laufman in charge of the Hillary Clinton email probe and aspects of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election — an inquiry handed off last May to special counsel Robert Mueller.
The Strzok-Page texts suggest they held an unflattering view of Laufman and Kortan.
“Kortan majorly screwed up,” one April 2016 text from Page said.
“I am getting aggravated at Laufman,” a March 2016 message from Strzok said.
The list of officials frequently discussed in the texts who are no longer in their jobs seems to grow by the day. It includes former FBI Director James Comey, who was fired by Trump; former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe; Comey’s chief of staff, James Rybicki; FBI General Counsel James Baker; as well as Strzok, who was booted off the special counsel investigation and sent to a job in the FBI’s personnel division.