Former FBI agents Peter Struzk and Lisa Page, who were involved in the controversial Trump-Russia investigation, have settled with their former employer over privacy rights violations. pay The settlement was awarded to Strzok $1.2 million and Page $800,000.
Struzk was a senior counterintelligence agent at the FBI who helped oversee the 2016 FBI investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia and also worked on the investigation into 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s private email server. Page was an FBI lawyer involved in the Trump investigation.
The two men filed a lawsuit against the Department of Justice, alleging that FBI officials shared with the media copies of text messages in which they described former President Trump as an “idiot” and an “abominable human being.”
“This outcome marks an important step forward in addressing the government’s unfair and highly politicized treatment of Pete,” Strzok’s lawyers said. Aitan D. Goleman wrote in the statement. “As important as it is to him, it also defends the privacy rights of all public employees. We will continue to litigate Pete’s constitutional claims to ensure that public employees are protected from adverse employment actions motivated by partisan politics in the future.”
“While today’s verdict vindicates me, it remains my fervent hope that the law enforcement community will never again politicize the lives of its employees,” Page said in a statement to The Associated Press.
Strzok and Page became targets of right-wing rage after the messages were leaked, President Trump repeatedly and specifically cited the messages as evidence of a government conspiracy against him, and both men resigned from their jobs after the messages were leaked.
In 2019, Strzok and Page filed separate lawsuits against the Justice Department and the FBI, alleging that they violated privacy laws by releasing their texts to the press before providing them to Congress, prompting Republican lawmakers to use the texts as part of their attacks on the FBI’s investigation into Trump, which they said was biased.
A report by the Justice Department’s inspector general concluded that there was no evidence of political bias in the investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Strzok has also filed two lawsuits against the Justice Department, alleging that the release of the documents violated his constitutional rights and that the department’s decision to fire him was politically motivated. Strzok wants to be reinstated with full retirement benefits.
News of the settlement was first made public in May, when House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) pressed Attorney General Merrick Garland about the settlement, asking why the Department of Justice didn’t pay a “fee.”[ing]”Strzok and Page”
“This isn’t about compensation. This is about money the government is paying for breaking the law,” Garland responded.
