Great to see first amendment warriors in here okay with people fired for having opinions.
I think Strzok would lose a legal battle, here. There are three sequential questions: (1) Government employees are only protected by the First Amendment when they are speaking as private citizens. If their speech is part of their official job duties, then they can be fired or disciplined for it. (Strzok could probably pass this one, although he was using his work phone...). If a government employee was speaking as a private citizen, the next question is, was their speech regarding a matter of public concern? If they weren’t speaking on a matter of public concern, the First Amendment will not protect their speech. (If he passes step 1, he shouldn't have any problem passing step 2). If they were speaking on a matter of public concern, the First Amendment might protect their speech. (3) If a government employee was speaking as a private citizen on a matter of public concern, the next question is whether the government employer's interest in efficiently fulfilling its public services is greater than the employee's interest in speaking freely. (And here's the rub, if he makes it past the first two steps. Strzok almost certainly loses here.)
