Though he generally comes across as confident, Mr. Strzok harbored doubts about his abilities. In late June, as the interview with Mrs. Clinton neared, he said he was spinning in my head about the case. The interview needs tweaking, he wrote, and reports need a fine edit, the summaries need to be written, I need to see what I did wrong or forgot or put off and not do that again and I need to do background for the job application, combination of Im perfect for the job and not good enough and not going to get it and and and.
That same month, he suggested the FBI had missed the fact that some Clinton emails were marked with a c, meaning they contained classified information. DOJ was very concerned about this, he wrote, adding that theyre worried, holy cow, if the fbi missed this, what else was missed. Which I get, because I had the same worry.
An hour later that same June day, Ms. Page texted with more news about the Clinton probe: oh jesus. Have something to tell you. The FBI interview with Mrs. Clinton, she said, would happen on July 2.
As he was gearing up for that session, Mr. Strzok was also helping edit a statement that FBI Director James Comey would deliver July 5 explaining why he was recommending against charging Mrs. Clinton.
In that statement, Mr. Comey would say Mrs. Clinton had been extremely careless in handling classified information; Mr. Strzok urged changing the phrase in a draft from grossly negligent, according to people familiar with the matter. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) in November said the editing suggests the FBI was seeking to help Mrs. Clinton avoid legal trouble, since, he added, gross negligence could be grounds for a criminal charge.
I may go insane editing this, Mr. Strzok texted on June 13, in apparent reference to the statement.
On the morning of the interview with Mrs. Clinton, Ms. Page sent Mr. Strzok good wishes. He replied, Just got Starbucks, already dealing with issues (all admin, as in, her five attorneys all wanting to drive into [FBI headquarters] separately because of fear of media. When the interview ended, he texted, Hey, it all went well.
As the summer wore on, he transitioned into helping spearhead the Russia investigation. He even joked about potential code names with Ms. Page. He said he would reserve YUUUGE as their code for Mr. Trump if they ever opened an investigation of him.
Sometimes Ms. Page and Mr. Strzok got into arguments that became emotional, such as a dispute over an article in The Wall Street Journal disclosing that Mr. McCabes wife, who ran for a Virginia senate seat in 2015, had received campaign donations from the Virginia governor, a Clinton ally. Republicans said Mr. McCabe should have recused himself from the Clinton email probe.
After Ms. Page texted a link to the story, Mr. Strzok said he was angry that she asked that he not share it with his colleagues. ITS ON THE INTERNET!!!! he exclaimed. She replied, WHICH YOU ONLY KNOW ABOUT BECAUSE I TOLD YOU IT WAS THERE.