WASHINGTON (AP) — Two former FBI officials reached a settlement with the Justice Department on Friday, ending claims that their privacy was violated when the department leaked text messages they sent each other that discredited former FBI officials. President Donald Trump.
Peter Strzok, a former top counterintelligence agent who played a key role in the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, settled his case for $1.2 million. Lawyers for Lisa Page, an FBI attorney who exchanged text messages with Strzok, also confirmed she had reached a settlement but did not disclose the amount.
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.
“This outcome is a critical 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 had no comment on Friday,
Strzok 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 not resolved by the tentative settlement.
“While I am vindicated by this outcome, my fervent hope remains that our justice institutions will never again play politics with the lives of their employees,” Page said in a statement. Her lawyers said “the evidence was overwhelming that the release of text messages to the press in December 2017 was for partisan political purposes and violated the law.”
