A sign outside the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice building is seen in Washington, DC, on May 4, 2021.
Patrick Semansky/AP
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Patrick Semansky/AP
WASHINGTON — Two former FBI officials settled lawsuits with the Justice Department on Friday, resolving claims that their privacy was violated when the department disclosed to the news media text messages they sent to each other that were derogatory toward 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 settled his case for $1.2 million. 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 will be paid $800,000.
The two sued the Justice Department over a 2017 incident in which officials shared with reporters copies of text messages they sent each other, including ones that described Trump as a “moron” and a “hateful human being” and called the prospect of a Trump victory “horrible.”
Strzok, who also investigated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, was fired after the text messages were discovered. Page resigned. They later sued, alleging that department officials leaked the text messages to promote a false narrative of anti-Trump bias within the FBI and to improve the department’s standing with Trump following his repeated attacks on then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
A Justice Department inspector general report examining the handling of Clinton’s emails and the Trump-Russia investigation found no evidence that partisan bias within the FBI influenced investigative decisions.
Strzok also sued the department over his firing, alleging that the FBI bowed to “relentless pressure” from Trump to fire him and that his First Amendment rights were violated. Those constitutional complaints are still pending.
“This outcome is an important step forward in addressing the government’s unfair and highly political treatment of Pete,” Strzok’s attorney, Aitan Goelman, said in a statement announcing the settlement Friday.
“As important as it is to him, it also protects the privacy rights of all government employees. We will continue to litigate Pete’s constitutional claims to ensure that, in the future, public employees are protected from adverse employment actions motivated by partisan politics,” he added.
A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment on Friday.
“While I have been vindicated by this outcome, I remain hopeful that our judicial institutions will never again interfere with the lives of their employees,” Page said in a statement.
Her lawyers said in a statement that “there is clear evidence that the release of text messages to the press in December 2017 was for partisan political purposes and was a violation of the law.”
