The FBI's Peter Strzok had clearly been studying the work of his superior, Comey. His testimony was a stew of self-righteous preening. Caught red-handed, Strzok insisted that he's a patriot who had been victimized by libels. And if you criticize him, you're working for Moscow.
It was a deeply silly and thoroughly offensive performance that was, with equal predictability, applauded by Democrats.
Whatever else Strzok may have done, he's anti-Trump and therefore worth applauding.
Strzok had wrapped himself in the flag, in the blood of a "fallen war hero", and the entire FBI. The man caught in an affair, insisted that he couldn't possibly have done anything wrong because his superiors were on top of him. And that also sums up Strzok. He's willing to bring down the FBI and its reputation to protect his own. Rats don't get any rattier than that.
"At every step, at every investigative decision, there are multiple layers of people above me, the assistant director, executive assistant director, deputy director and director of the FBI, and multiple layers of people below me, section chiefs, supervisors, unit chiefs, case agents and analysts, all of whom were involved in all of these decisions. They would not tolerate any improper behavior in me any more than I would tolerate it in them. That is who we are as the FBI."
The IG's report had summed that up already. McCabe had used Lisa Page, the woman whom Strzok was having an affair with, as his liaison to bypass the chain of command.
We know where the dark chamber was and what some Hillary allies in the FBI were willing to tolerate.