Government to pay former FBI officials $2 million in settlements over release of anti-Trump texts

Ex-FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page reached settlements with the Justice Department that will see the government paying out a total of $2 million in their lawsuits over the department’s 2018 release of their text messages.

Former agent Strzok will get $1.2 million and Page, who was an FBI lawyer, will get $800,000, according to settlement agreements obtained by CNN.

Strzok and Page finalized their settlements with the Justice Department in court filings Friday, after alleging the department violated the Privacy Act by releasing to the media texts they exchanged criticizing Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign.

“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 said in a statement provided by her attorneys.

The Justice Department declined to comment on the matter.

Strzok played a senior role on special counsel Robert Mueller’s team until he was removed after an internal investigation first revealed his texts with Page, with whom Strzok had an extramarital relationship, that could be read as exhibiting political bias. Page, who had also briefly served on Mueller’s team, resigned from her role as a lawyer for the FBI after the messages were discovered. The release of the messages became political fodder for Donald Trump to oppose the Russia investigation during his presidency.

Strzok has other ongoing claims in the lawsuit against the department for his termination during the Trump administration.

“This outcome is a critical step forward in addressing the government’s unfair and highly politicized treatment of Pete. As important as it is for him, it also vindicates the privacy interests of all government employees,” Strzok’s attorney Aitan Goelman said in a news release.

“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,” Goelman continued.

This headline and story have been updated with additional details.

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