Trump to be deposed Tuesday for Strzok, Page lawsuit, while he continues to attend civil trial hearings

Former President Donald Trump was deposed Tuesday for a lawsuit filed by former FBI official Peter Strzok and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page and also attended his civil fraud trial for allegedly inflating the value of his assets, per CNN.

In August 2019, Strzok filed a lawsuit against the United States Justice Department for wrongful termination due to the release of private text messages with Page. Strzok also alleged his firing was motivated by Trump’s political vendetta against him, as he and Page worked on the FBI’s Russia investigation, per The Washington Examiner.

The private text messages between Strzok and Page showed they were critical of Trump while they were investigating him. In one message, Page asks Strzok, “(Trump is) not ever going to become president, right? Right?!” Strzok replied: “No. No he won’t. We’ll stop it.”

The attorneys in the Strzok and Page case were restricted to asking Trump only about public statements the former president made in 2017 and 2018 about either of the plaintiffs.

The released text messages between Strzok and Page led to suspicion the FBI was biased against the former president, and Trump often mentioned the pair during campaign rallies, according to The Hill.

Rod Rosenstein, a United States deputy attorney general from 2017 to 2019, authorized the release of Strzok and Page’s text messages in 2018.

Rosenstein explained his authorization in a declaration with the DOJ and said, “The disclosure obviously would adversely affect public confidence in the FBI, but providing the most egregious messages in one package would avoid the additional harm of prolonged selective disclosures and minimize the appearance of the Department concealing information that was embarrassing to the FBI,” per TIME.

Page has filed a separate lawsuit, claiming the the DOJ was unwarranted in releasing her private text messages with Strzok, according to The Associated Press. Page resigned from her position as an FBI lawyer in May 2018. Several months after her resignation, Strzok was fired as an FBI official.

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On Tuesday, Trump attended a civil fraud trial investigating the Trump Organization on claims that he and three of his children “deceived banks” by overvaluing assets and misrepresenting the company’s finances, per PBS.

In 2019, Michael Cohen, former attorney for Donald Trump testified before Congress claiming that the Trump Organization was involved in accounting fraud, according to ABC. Shortly after Cohen testified before Congress, New York Attorney General Letitia James launched an investigation into his claims.

James has been investigating Trump, the Trump Organization and three of his children including Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka and Eric Trump.

Allegations include inflating asset value to obtain loans and tax benefits, deflating asset value to reduce tax liability, falsifying business records, conspiracy, and violating the Martin Act, which is a New York law prohibiting deception in securities transactions, per CBS.

While Trump is not required to attend the civil fraud trial in person, he decided to attend for the third week in a row, AP reported.

Cohen was originally scheduled to testify on Tuesday, but will be unable to attend due to a “pre-existing medical condition,” The Hill reported.