The "lovebirds," as Donald Trump was fond of calling FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, have reportedly settled one of their cases against the Department of Justice.
If you recall, during the Trump investigation, the two agents were caught exchanging disparaging text messages, with both eventually being removed from the case and the agency.
Talking Points…
- Violation of rights
- Settlement reached
- Analysis
After their text messages were released, Strzok and Page sued the FBI and the DOJ.
Strzok said that his messages regarding Trump were protected by the First Amendment. The kicker, however, is that the messages were sent on a phone issued to Strzok by the FBI.
The messages did not paint a very positive picture of his feelings toward Trump, leading many to believe his decision was made up long before the facts were gathered.
Page also filed suit, stating that the publication of her messages with Strzok violated the Federal Privacy Act. She was also trying to recover daycare, transportation, data privacy protection costs, and attorney's fees for having to appear before Congress.
Strzok's case remains unsettled, and he appears ready to go to the wall on this even though the evidence appears to have him dead to rights.
His attorneys have argued that the defendants:
"Should not be heard to complain about the notoriety and putative damage to the FBI's reputation from Strzok's speech when it was their own illegal disclosures, magnified and distorted by the false attacks made by the President and his allies, that placed a spotlight on Strzok's opinions."
Page, however, settled her case, but the details have not yet been received. The agreement was filed on Tuesday but will not become official until a judge approves the deal. We know she was seeking at least $1,000, but no other details had been leaked beyond what we had mentioned above.
This, to me, is a complete and utter joke. These were FBI personnel using federal devices to communicate, so the privacy aspect of this goes right out the window.
It seems like Attorney General Merrick Garland is protecting his own and doing everything he can to settle these cases before the Republicans take back the White House. Trust me, if Trump is in there, his AG will not be cutting any deals, especially for these two, both of whom played an integral role in the Russian collusion narrative that Dems used to try to beat Trump in the 2016 election.
