Two former FBI officials settle lawsuits with Justice Department over leaked text messages
WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — Two former FBI officials settled lawsuits with the Justice Department on Friday, resolving claims that their privacy rights were violated when the department leaked to the news media text messages that they had sent each other letters denigrating former President Donald Trump.
Peter Strzoka former top counterintelligence agent who played a crucial role in the investigation into Russian interference in 2016 electionssettled his case for $1.2 million. Lisa Page, an FBI lawyer who exchanged text messages with Strzok, also reached a separate settlement. Court documents reviewed by The Associated Press show she will receive $800,000.
The two had sued the Justice Department over a 2017 episode in which officials shared with reporters copies of text messages they had sent each other, including messages describing Trump as an “idiot” and a “repulsive human being” and calling the prospect of a Trump victory “terrifying.”
Strzok, who also investigated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, was fired after the text messages came to light. Page resigned. They later filed a lawsuit alleging that department officials leaked the text messages to promote a false narrative of anti-Trump bias within the FBI and to boost the department’s standing with Trump after his relentless attacks on then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Reports from the Justice Department’s inspector general on the handling of the Clinton emails and the Trump-Russia investigation found no evidence that partisan bias within the FBI influenced investigative decisions.
Strzok has also sued the department over his firing, alleging that the FBI bowed to Trump’s “relentless pressure” in firing him and that his First Amendment rights were violated. Those constitutional claims are still pending.
“This outcome is an important step forward in addressing the government’s unfair and highly politicized treatment of Pete,” Strzok’s attorney, Aitan Goelman, said Friday in a statement announcing the settlement.
“As important as it is to him, it also vindicates the privacy interests of all public employees. We will continue to challenge Pete’s constitutional claims to ensure that public employees are protected in the future from adverse employment actions motivated by partisan politics,” he added.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice declined to comment on Friday.
“While I am vindicated by this outcome, it is my fervent hope that our justice institutions will never again play politics with the lives of their employees,” Page said in a statement.
Her lawyers said in a statement that “the evidence was overwhelming that the disclosure of text messages to the press in December 2017 was for partisan political purposes and violated the law.”