Justice Department Settles for $2M with FBI Officials Whose Texts Infuriated Trump
The remainder of Peter Strzok’s lawsuit regarding his termination will proceed as the resolution of former FBI lawyer Lisa Page’s case unfolds.
TroibNews 
The Justice Department has agreed to a $2 million settlement in response to legal claims by former FBI employees Peter Strzok and Lisa Page over the release of their text messages.
The settlement concludes Lisa Page's lawsuit but leaves Peter Strzok’s case partially unresolved, allowing him to pursue claims that his firing was to appease then-President Donald Trump.
On Friday, Strzok’s lawyers revealed his $1.2 million settlement, and both parties notified a federal judge in Washington that the privacy-related part of this issue was settled.
“This outcome is a critical step forward in addressing the government’s unfair and highly politicized treatment of Pete,” stated Strzok’s attorney, Aitan Goelman. “As important as it is for him, it also vindicates 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 employment actions motivated by partisan politics.”
Lisa Page, who resigned amidst the controversy, settled her Privacy Act claim with the department on Friday. Settlement documents indicate she will receive $800,000. The U.S. government is not admitting any legal liability in these agreements.
“The evidence was overwhelming that the release of text messages to the press in December 2017 was for partisan political purposes and was against the law,” commented Page’s lawyer, Amy Jeffress.
“While I have been vindicated by this result, my fervent hope remains that our institutions of justice will never again play politics with the lives of their employees,” Page added.
Strzok and Page became targets of Trump’s criticism after the texts, which contained disparaging remarks about Trump and his supporters, became public. They discussed efforts to “stop” Trump from becoming president and called parts of their work an “insurance policy.”
Trump suspected them due to their roles in the early FBI probe into his 2016 campaign’s ties to Russia. He often mocked Strzok and Page over their relationship and suggested their texts supported claims that the Russia investigation was biased.
Strzok and Page have denied these accusations, asserting their private opinions did not affect their professional duties, and many statements were misinterpreted.
At a House hearing in 2018, Strzok explained that the text about stopping Trump “was written late at night, off-the-cuff, and it was in response to a series of events that included then-candidate Trump insulting the immigrant family of a fallen war hero.”
Justice Department officials had released the messages to journalists on Dec. 12, 2017, as they were sent to Congress upon committee requests.
Depositions revealed that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein approved the release, hoping to prevent the most inflammatory texts from being taken out of context by lawmakers. Top officials also confirmed their approval of the release.
Rosenstein declined to comment on the settlements.
A Justice Department spokesperson did not address why the agency agreed to the payments.
At a House hearing last month, following news of tentative settlements, Republicans questioned Attorney General Merrick Garland about taxpayer money being used for Strzok and Page.
“We reached settlements based on our litigators’ assessment of whether we can win the case and how much it will cost if we lose the case,” Garland stated. “The Privacy Act doesn’t distinguish between people we like and people we don’t like, information we like and information we don’t like. If somebody in the government discloses personal information protected by the Privacy Act, that’s the way the law is.”
“So, you can go after a president and you get rewarded for doing so, according to the Justice Department?” asked House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).
“It’s not a question of reward. It’s a question of the government paying for violating the law,” Garland answered.
Strzok’s partial settlement includes a clause that any further damages awarded in his lawsuit will be reduced by $200,000 due to the $1.2 million payment. Neither Page nor Strzok can claim additional legal fees for the settled claims.
Sophie Wagner contributed to this report for TROIB News
The settlement concludes Lisa Page's lawsuit but leaves Peter Strzok’s case partially unresolved, allowing him to pursue claims that his firing was to appease then-President Donald Trump.
On Friday, Strzok’s lawyers revealed his $1.2 million settlement, and both parties notified a federal judge in Washington that the privacy-related part of this issue was settled.
“This outcome is a critical step forward in addressing the government’s unfair and highly politicized treatment of Pete,” stated Strzok’s attorney, Aitan Goelman. “As important as it is for him, it also vindicates 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 employment actions motivated by partisan politics.”
Lisa Page, who resigned amidst the controversy, settled her Privacy Act claim with the department on Friday. Settlement documents indicate she will receive $800,000. The U.S. government is not admitting any legal liability in these agreements.
“The evidence was overwhelming that the release of text messages to the press in December 2017 was for partisan political purposes and was against the law,” commented Page’s lawyer, Amy Jeffress.
“While I have been vindicated by this result, my fervent hope remains that our institutions of justice will never again play politics with the lives of their employees,” Page added.
Strzok and Page became targets of Trump’s criticism after the texts, which contained disparaging remarks about Trump and his supporters, became public. They discussed efforts to “stop” Trump from becoming president and called parts of their work an “insurance policy.”
Trump suspected them due to their roles in the early FBI probe into his 2016 campaign’s ties to Russia. He often mocked Strzok and Page over their relationship and suggested their texts supported claims that the Russia investigation was biased.
Strzok and Page have denied these accusations, asserting their private opinions did not affect their professional duties, and many statements were misinterpreted.
At a House hearing in 2018, Strzok explained that the text about stopping Trump “was written late at night, off-the-cuff, and it was in response to a series of events that included then-candidate Trump insulting the immigrant family of a fallen war hero.”
Justice Department officials had released the messages to journalists on Dec. 12, 2017, as they were sent to Congress upon committee requests.
Depositions revealed that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein approved the release, hoping to prevent the most inflammatory texts from being taken out of context by lawmakers. Top officials also confirmed their approval of the release.
Rosenstein declined to comment on the settlements.
A Justice Department spokesperson did not address why the agency agreed to the payments.
At a House hearing last month, following news of tentative settlements, Republicans questioned Attorney General Merrick Garland about taxpayer money being used for Strzok and Page.
“We reached settlements based on our litigators’ assessment of whether we can win the case and how much it will cost if we lose the case,” Garland stated. “The Privacy Act doesn’t distinguish between people we like and people we don’t like, information we like and information we don’t like. If somebody in the government discloses personal information protected by the Privacy Act, that’s the way the law is.”
“So, you can go after a president and you get rewarded for doing so, according to the Justice Department?” asked House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).
“It’s not a question of reward. It’s a question of the government paying for violating the law,” Garland answered.
Strzok’s partial settlement includes a clause that any further damages awarded in his lawsuit will be reduced by $200,000 due to the $1.2 million payment. Neither Page nor Strzok can claim additional legal fees for the settled claims.
Sophie Wagner contributed to this report for TROIB News
