Two Former FBI Officials Settle Lawsuits With Justice Department Over Leaked Text Messages

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two former FBI officials reached a settlement with the Justice Department on Friday, ending their claims that their privacy rights were violated when the department released to the media text messages they sent to each other that disparaged former 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, has reached a $1.2 million settlement. Lisa Page, an FBI lawyer who exchanged text messages with Strzok, also reached a separate settlement. Court records reviewed by The Associated Press show she is due $800,000.

The two men had sued the Justice Department over a 2017 episode in which officials shared with reporters copies of text messages they sent to each other, including ones that described Trump as an “idiot” and a “repugnant human being” and that called 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 were revealed. Page resigned. They later filed a lawsuit, alleging that department officials leaked the text messages to promote a false narrative of anti-Trump bias within the FBI and to elevate the department’s standing with Trump after his relentless attacks on then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Justice Department inspector general reports examining the handling of Clinton’s emails and investigations into the Trump-Russia affair found no evidence that partisan bias within the FBI influenced investigative decisions.

Strzok also sued the department over his firing, alleging that the FBI caved to “relentless pressure” from Trump when he fired him and that his First Amendment rights were violated. Those constitutional complaints are still pending.

“This outcome is a critical step in the fight against the government’s unfair and highly politicized treatment of Pete,” Strzok’s attorney, Aitan Goelman, said in a statement announcing the settlement Friday.

“As important as this is to him, it also upholds the privacy interests of all government employees. We will continue to litigate Pete’s constitutional claims to ensure that in the future, public servants are protected from adverse hiring actions motivated by partisan political considerations,” he added.

A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment Friday.

“While this result proves me right, it is my fervent hope that our judicial institutions will never again play politics with the lives of their employees,” Page said in a statement.

His lawyers said in a statement that “the evidence was overwhelming that the release of text messages to the press in December 2017 was for partisan political purposes and was contrary to law.”