Two former FBI officials settle lawsuits with Justice Department over leaked text messages

WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — Two former FBI officials settled lawsuits with the Justice Department on Friday, resolving claims that their privacy rights were violated when the department leaked to the news media text messages that they had sent one another that disparaged former President Donald Trump.

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

The two had sued the Justice Department over a 2017 episode in which officials shared copies with reporters of text messages that they had sent each other, including ones that described Trump as an “idiot” and a ”loathsome human” and that called the prospect of a Trump victory “terrifying.”

Strzok, who also investigated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, was fired after the text messages came to light. Page resigned. They later sued, alleging that department officials leaked the texts to promote a false narrative of anti-Trump bias within the FBI and to elevate the department’s status with Trump after his relentless attacks on then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Justice Department inspector general reports examining the handling of the Clinton email and Trump-Russia investigations did not find evidence that partisan bias within the FBI influenced investigative decisions.

Strzok has also sued the department over his termination, alleging that the FBI caved to “unrelenting pressure” from Trump when it fired him and that his First Amendment rights were violated. Those constitutional claims remain pending.

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

“As important as it is for him, it also vindicates the privacy interests of all government employees. 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,” he added.

A spokesman for the Justice Department declined to comment Friday.

“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.

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