Former FBI officials Peter Strtzke and Lisa Page have settled with the Department of Justice over alleged violations of their privacy rights after the release of excoriating text messages they used to challenge former President Trump’s Russia investigation during his presidency.
The settlement is still pending finalization and approval by a judge.
The tentative agreement was filed Tuesday to resolve a five-year lawsuit filed by Page over the FBI’s release of text messages between Page and Strzok, with whom she had an affair, that criticized the former president. Strzok’s lawsuit seeking back pay and reinstatement remains open.
Page was seeking $1,000 in damages after her text messages were leaked to the media. Details of the settlement were not immediately released.
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Peter Strzok and Lisa Page are former FBI agents whose affair came to light following the release of anti-Trump text messages. (Chip Somodevilla/Staff I Andrew Caballero Reynolds/Contributor)
In 2019, Strzok filed legal papers in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., arguing that even though he sent politically biased, anti-Trump messages on his FBI-issued cellphone while playing a leading role in the investigations into both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the messages were protected by the First Amendment.
Strzok, a former FBI counterintelligence chief, said he had a right to “develop a complete factual record through discovery” and that it was premature to dismiss the case at this early stage. He also argued that the Justice Department’s position “leaves thousands of federal employees unprotected from disciplinary action over the content of their political speech.”
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Page also filed a lawsuit against the FBI and the Department of Justice, alleging that the governments violated federal privacy laws by releasing his lewd text messages to Strzok.
Page’s lawsuit also sought reimbursement for “childcare and travel expenses during multiple investigative investigations and congressional appearances,” “costs paid to data privacy services to protect my personal information,” and attorneys’ fees.
Former President Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, sits in court during his hush money trial in Manhattan Criminal Court, New York City, May 21, 2024. (Michael M. Santiago/Pool AFP via Getty Images)
In subsequent filings, Strzok’s lawyers wrote that the defendants “should not complain about the negative publicity and perceived damage to the FBI’s reputation that Mr. Strzok’s comments have generated because the attention they have drawn to Defendants’ own unlawful disclosures, which have been amplified and distorted by false attacks by the President and his associates,” according to CNN.
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Former FBI employee Peter Strzok was fired in 2018 for sending anti-Trump text messages. (Reuters)
The two were involved in the FBI’s first counterintelligence investigation. Russian interference He was investigated for allegedly conspiring with associates of the Trump campaign during the 2016 election and later served on special counsel Robert Mueller’s team.
The lovebirds’ scandal was brought to light by a live performance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in 2020 called “FBI Lovebirds: Undercovers,” which was based on anti-Trump text messages between the former agents. Trump referred to the couple as the “FBI Lovebirds” at the rally.
Fox News’ Greg Lee and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
