Government to pay ex-FBI agent $1.2 million in settlement over release of anti-Trump texts
According to court filings Friday, both Strzok and former FBI attorney Lisa Page have finalized their settlements with the Justice Department after alleging the department violated the Privacy Act by releasing to the media texts they exchanged criticizing Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign.
Page’s attorneys said they were pleased the DOJ agreed to settle her claims, but did not provide the amount of the settlement. “While I have been vindicated by this result, my fervent hope remains that our institutions of justice will never again play politics with the lives of their employees,” Page said in a provided statement.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Strzok played a senior role on special counsel Robert Mueller’s team until he was removed after an internal investigation first revealed his texts with Page, with whom Strzok had an extramarital relationship, that could be read as exhibiting political bias. Page, who had also briefly served on Mueller’s team, resigned from her role as a lawyer for the FBI after the messages were discovered. The release of the messages became political fodder for Donald Trump to oppose the Russia investigation during his presidency.
Strzok has other ongoing claims in the lawsuit against the department for his termination during the Trump administration.
“This outcome is a critical step forward in addressing the government’s unfair and highly politicized treatment of Pete. As important as it is for him, it also vindicates the privacy interests of all government employees,” Strzok’s attorney Aitan Goelman said in a news release.
“We will continue to litigate Pete’s constitutional claims to ensure that, in the future, public servants are protected from adverse employment actions motivated by partisan politics,” Goelman continued.
Page's statement highlighted her hope that politics would no longer impact the treatment of employees within the Justice Department's institutions. The release of Strzok and Page's texts during the 2016 campaign became a tool for Donald Trump to challenge the Russia investigation.
