Two former FBI officials reach settlement with Justice Department over leaked text messages

WASHINGTON – Two former FBI officials on Friday settled lawsuits with the Justice Department, resolving allegations that their privacy rights were violated when the department released to news media text messages they sent to each other that defamed former President Donald Trump.

Peter Strzok, a former counterintelligence agent who played a key role in the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, settled his case for $1.2 million. Lisa Page, an FBI lawyer who exchanged text messages with Strzok, also settled a separate settlement. Court documents reviewed by The Associated Press show she is set to receive $800,000.

The two sued the Justice Department over a 2017 incident in which officials shared copies of text messages they exchanged with reporters, including one in which Trump was described as an “idiot” and a “disgusting human being” and called the prospect of a Trump victory “horrifying.”

Strzok, who also investigated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, was fired after the text messages were released. Page resigned. They later sued, alleging that department officials released the text messages to promote a false narrative of anti-Trump bias at the FBI and to raise the department’s profile in Trump’s eyes after his relentless attacks on then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

The Justice Department inspector general’s reports examining the handling of the Clinton email investigation and Trump’s ties to Russia found no evidence that partisan bias at the FBI influenced decisions made during the investigation.

Strzok also sued the department over his firing, saying the FBI bowed to Trump’s “relentless pressure” when it fired him and that his First Amendment rights were violated. Those constitutional claims remain pending.

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

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

A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment Friday.

“While I am vindicated by this outcome, I remain passionately committed to ensuring that our justice institutions never again play politics at the expense of the lives of their employees,” Page said in a statement.

Her defense team said in a statement that “the evidence was overwhelming that the release of the text messages to the press in December 2017 was for partisan political purposes and was unlawful.”