Former FBI Officials Reach Tentative Settlement Over Leaked Anti-Trump Text Messages

Former FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page have reached a tentative settlement with the Justice Department over privacy violations stemming from leaked text messages that disparaged former President Donald Trump. The deal, disclosed in a court filing on Tuesday, did not reveal specific terms.

Strzok, a former top FBI counterintelligence agent, was fired in 2018 after the anti-Trump messages came to light, while Page, a former FBI lawyer, resigned that same year. The two alleged in federal lawsuits that the Justice Department infringed on their privacy rights when officials shared copies of their communication with reporters in 2017.

The text messages, which described Trump as an “idiot” and a “loathsome human,” also called the prospect of a Trump victory “terrifying.” Strzok sued the department over his termination, claiming his First Amendment rights were violated. The constitutional claims have not been resolved by the tentative settlement.

Former President Trump, who publicly championed Strzok’s firing and accused him of treason, was questioned under oath last year as part of the ongoing litigation. The text messages were discovered by the Justice Department inspector general’s office during an investigation into the FBI’s handling of Hillary Clinton’s private email server.

Despite the inspector general finding no evidence of political bias in the email probe, the text messages led to Strzok’s removal from the special counsel team investigating Trump-Russia ties. The inspector general identified flaws in the probe but did not attribute them to partisan bias.

Lawyers for Strzok and Page declined to comment on the settlement, as did a Justice Department spokesman. The department previously stated that sharing the text messages with the media was permissible, as they had also been disclosed to members of Congress.