DOJ Pays Disgraced FBI Russia Hoaxers $2 Million Settlement

President Joe Biden’s Justice Department delivered a multi-million-dollar payout to a pair of disgraced former FBI agents who discussed using an “insurance policy” to deal with the threat of then-candidate Donald Trump winning the White House in 2016.

Last week, the Associated Press reported Peter Strzok and his mistress, Lisa Page, landed a $2 million deal with the Department of Justice (DOJ). Strzok and Page received the payout through a set of lawsuits against the department claiming their privacy rights were violated when text messages exposing their bias were leaked to the media. Strzok reportedly settled his case for $1.2 million, while Page reached a separate settlement for $800,000.

“The two had sued the Justice Department over a 2017 episode in which officials shared copies with reporters of text messages that they had sent each other, including ones that described Trump as an ‘idiot’ and a ‘loathsome human’ and that called the prospect of a Trump victory ‘terrifying,’” the AP reported.

Strzok was fired following the messages’ release, and Page resigned. The pair went on to sue and landed a government settlement under a friendly administration months before the next election.

The Russia collusion hoax plagued the first half of the Trump administration. Trump and his campaign were finally exonerated in 2019 when former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report found not one person on Trump’s team, let alone Trump himself, colluded with the Russian government to win the 2016 election.

The New York Times reported “the agreement is likely to anger Mr. Trump, who has railed against the pair for years and leveled baseless accusations that the investigation was a ‘witch hunt’ intended to damage his campaign.”

Trump’s accusations are only “baseless” if one ignores the fact that the government surveillance warrants in the Russia collusion hoax were not legally justified and were based on discredited opposition research in an operation approved by the leadership of the incumbent regime, as noted by DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report.

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The failure of the Russia hoax to convict Trump was followed by an impeachment over a made-up scandal related to foreign aid to Ukraine. Once that failed in 2020, Democrats impeached the president again on his way out of office over another hoax surrounding the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump survived both impeachment votes in the Senate, but was hit with 91 state and federal criminal charges after leaving office as Democrats desperately throw the book at the Republican nominee to thwart a triumphant return to the White House.

Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist and the author of Social Justice Redux, a conservative newsletter on culture, health, and wellness. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at [email protected]. Sign up for Tristan’s email newsletter here.