Trump will be questioned under oath about FBI employees suing DOJ.
On Tuesday, former President Donald Trump is set to be deposed in a case two former FBI employees brought against the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Peter Strzok and Lisa Page made headlines when texts between the two former FBI employees, who were also having an extramarital affair at the time, were revealed to show anti-Trump messages and bias. Mr. Strzok was leading the already contentious FBI investigation into ties between the former president’s first campaign and Russia, and Ms. Page was also assigned to the case.
Mr. Strzok was also a key agent in the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, in which evidence was destroyed.
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Ms. Page, who had resigned from the agency, is suing the DOJ for disclosing her texts, and Mr. Strzok was fired months after Ms. Page resigned and is suing for wrongful termination. He claims the firing was political, while the agency claims it was proper given his ”lapse of judgment” which was also evidenced in the texts.
The separate suits were combined, and both plaintiffs alleged that the DOJ was pressured by President Trump when they took action against the FBI employees. They noted that President Trump repeatedly invoked them in social media posts and had actually called for Mr. Strzok to be fired.
For two years, the DOJ has repeatedly argued that President Trump’s deposition is not necessary. They argued that several other witnesses have already testified as to President Trump’s role, and that was sufficient for the case.
President Trump on the other hand has said he is willing to testify in this case, and has lambasted the “Russia hoax” about his 2016 campaign publicly during his current campaign as he hopes to run for president again in 2024.
A judge, and appeals court, had ruled that President Trump could be deposed. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, presiding over the case, noted that President Trump had made time for other cases despite his campaigning, and thus said he would have time to be deposed.
President Trump is expected to leave the trial early for the afternoon deposition.
Peter Strzok
Mr. Strzok had been with the FBI for 25 years before he was terminated. In his lawsuit, Mr. Strzok claims that his political opinions in the revealed personal texts led to his firing in 2018, even after the officer in charge of the Office of Professional Responsibility had recommended a suspension and demotion rather than termination.
The day after Mr. Strzok accepted this disciplinary decision, he was fired, effective immediately.
“The discharge decision was made by Deputy Director David Bowdich, and was the result of unrelenting pressure from President Trump and his political allies in Congress and the media,” his 2019 lawsuit read. “The campaign to fire Strzok included constant tweets and other disparaging statements by the President, as well as direct appeals from the President to then Attorney General Jefferson Sessions and FBI Director Christopher Wray to fire Strzok, which were chronicled in the press.”
He argued that the release of his texts only enabled the wrongful termination.
Several of the texts between Mr. Strzok and Ms. Page revealed deep bias, which officials and lawmakers claim colored the investigation into President Trump’s campaign. Mr. Strzok famously said they would “stop” him from becoming president, and had described him as “an idiot,” “disaster,” “abysmal,” among other negative descriptions.
”[Trump is] not ever going to become president, right? Right?!” Ms. Page wrote in one text.
“No. No he won’t. We’ll stop it,” Mr. Strzok responded.
In other texts, they discussed a “media leak strategy” with the DOJ to spread information about the president and his administration.
“It will make your head spin to realize how many stories we played a personal role in,” Ms. Page wrote to Mr. Strzok in 2016.
Afterward, the DOJ investigated the two, but the final report found no “political bias” or “improper considerations” in their work. However, the texts “cast a cloud over the entire FBI investigation,” the report noted.
In Mr. Stzrok’s lawsuit, he alleges the entire Trump administration was discriminatory as evidenced by the treatment of some of the president’s aides.
“The Trump Administration has consistently tolerated and even encouraged partisan political speech by federal employees, as long as this speech praises President Trump and attacks his political adversaries,” the lawsuit reads, arguing that high-profile staffers were allowed to “violate the Hatch Act with impunity,” suggesting they illegally participated in political activities as civil servants.
The government argued that the case should be dismissed, as Mr. Strzok was properly dismissed, and the texts were not illegally released.
In his key role in the two high-profile investigations, a “higher burden of caution” was imposed on him, and he failed to meet it, reads the government motion.
“It is because of those text messages, and the paramount importance of preserving the FBI’s ability to function as a trusted, nonpartisan institution, that Plaintiff was removed from his position, and not because of any alleged disagreement with Plaintiff’s viewpoints on political issues or Tweets from the President,” the filing reads.
Why is the deposition of former President Trump considered a significant development in the case brought by Peter Strzok and Lisa Page against the DOJ? What has President Trump’s response been to the investigation and the possibility of testifying
Ibed an “insurance policy” in case Trump won the election. These texts have been cited by Trump and his supporters as evidence of a biased investigation.
Lisa Page
Ms. Page, who was an attorney at the FBI, resigned from the agency in May 2018. She claims that her texts with Mr. Strzok were disclosed without her consent, and she is suing the DOJ for violating her privacy rights. In her lawsuit, she argues that the agency released the texts in order to appease President Trump and his allies.
Ms. Page’s texts with Mr. Strzok revealed an intimate relationship between the two and included derogatory remarks about Trump. The messages were exchanged during the 2016 presidential campaign, while both individuals were involved in the investigation into Russian interference.
The Lawsuit
Mr. Strzok and Ms. Page filed separate lawsuits against the DOJ, which have now been combined. They allege that the agency acted under pressure from President Trump in taking action against them, and that their firings were politically motivated.
They argue that President Trump repeatedly targeted them on social media and called for their termination, which influenced the DOJ’s decision. They claim that their First Amendment rights were violated, as their personal beliefs and private conversations were used against them in a professional context.
The Deposition
The deposition of former President Trump is a significant development in this case. It is rare for a sitting or former president to be deposed, especially in a case involving government employees.
President Trump has expressed his willingness to testify and has criticized the investigation into his campaign’s ties with Russia as a ”hoax”. Meanwhile, the DOJ has argued that his deposition is unnecessary, as other witnesses have already provided information on his involvement.
Conclusion
The deposition of former President Trump in the case brought by Peter Strzok and Lisa Page against the DOJ marks an important moment in the ongoing legal challenges surrounding the investigation into Russian interference and alleged bias within the FBI. This deposition allows for a clearer understanding of the events and motivations that influenced the actions of the DOJ and its employees.
While the outcome of this case remains uncertain, it highlights the complex and contentious intersection of politics, law enforcement, and personal privacy. The depositions will shed light on the inner workings of the DOJ and the extent of political influence on its decision-making process.
As the legal proceedings continue, the public and legal experts will closely watch the developments in this case, which has far-reaching implications for the integrity and independence of government institutions and the rights of individuals within them. Only time will tell how this case will be resolved and what impact it will have on future investigations and the relationship between politics and law enforcement.
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