WASHINGTON, DC - Politico reports that the Department of Justice has reached a settlement with former disgraced FBI lovers Peter Strzok and Lisa Page who filed suit in 2019 alleging the disclosure of text messages between the two slamming former President Trump violated their privacy.
Last week, the DOJ filed a notice with two federal judges in Washington, D.C. advising it had reached settlements with Strzok, who was fired by the FBI and Page, who resigned. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed. The notice specifically, however, said Strzok’s claims that his firing violated the First Amendment and due process rights were not resolved by the agreement.
Strzok alleged in that suit that the FBI bowed to political pressure from President Trump to fire him just before he was eligible for full retirement pay. That claim continues.
The DOJ claims the text messages were released to journalists as a preliminary move to head off Republicans who were hostile to Strzok and Page from focusing on only the most inflammatory messages in the text exchange. Lawmakers received copies of the texts at about the same time as journalists.
The DOJ has repeatedly denied liability in the case and has vigorously defended against both lawsuits. The parties have been discussing a resolution to the cases for at least six months.
The text messages between Strzok, who was married, and Page, saw the pair claim that Trump was an “idiot” and said that Hillary Clinton should win the election by a huge margin while also slamming Trump supporters. It was revealed that Strzok and Page were having an extramarital affair.
Strzok, who was clearly conflicted since he was part of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s handling of classified documents, referred to the FBI’s ongoing bogus Russia probe as “an insurance policy,” which suggested to President Trump and his allies that it could be held over Trump’s head if he won the 2016 election.
After the text exchanges between Strzok and Page were revealed, Trump lambasted the pair on social media and during speeches while using their sometimes sordid text messages and describing them in “crude” terms, Politico reported.
Partisan district attorney’s in dark blue areas of the country have taken some of the air out of the sails of the Strzok/Page lawsuits since those cases have dominated the headlines, however last year, Trump was ordered to sit for a deposition in the two lawsuits by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who believed he might have relevant information to provide about the cases.
At that time, the DOJ attempted to block Trump’s deposition, asking Jackson to reconsider her decision and asking the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to block it, however neither Jackson, nor the D.C. Circuit acceded to those requests and the former president sat for a short deposition in New York.
Politico reached out to the DOJ and attorneys for Strzok and Page for comment. The DOJ declined and the attorneys for Page and Strzok had no immediate comment, Politico said.
Comments
2024-06-04T13:13-0700 | Comment by: Don
As an FBI Special Agent, Peter Strzok had a responsibility to keep integrity, professional decorum, and not violate the Rules of Ethics of the FBI. He is seen as failing in these areas and was subject to termination based on these violations alone. Strzok put himself above all others and acted in a self-centered and unprofessional manner for an FBI Special Agent. In my opinion, he was an embarrassment to all of the other FBI Special Agents who perform their duties diligently without compromising their integrity. Strzok's involvement in politics was, in my opinion, a violation of the Hatch Act (which includes advocating for a political candidate in the workplace). Strzok’s employment could have been terminated for this alone. I have seen Federal Law Enforcement Officers terminated for less than the actions of Strzok. Strzok should consider himself lucky he was not prosecuted for some of the actions that he engaged in while with the FBI. My mentor, a retired (31-years) FBI Special Agent, who spent 26 years of his career working in the Counterintelligence Division of the FBI, would have had a heart attack if he were alive to see what Strzok did while in this division. I am glad that my mentor and friend died a few years before this was made public. This entire Strzok situation was horrible. Obviously, the selection process for Special Agents is not as rigorous as it once was under J. Edgar Hoover.