Peter Strzok and Lisa Page are former FBI officials whose extramarital affair came to light amid a release of their anti-Trump text messages. (Chip Somodevilla/Staff I Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Contributor)
In 2019, Strzok argued in a court filing in Washington, D.C., federal district court that his politically charged anti-Trump messages were protected by the First Amendment even though he sent them on bureau-issued phones while playing leading roles in the probes into both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
Strzok, once the FBI's head of counterintelligence, said he was entitled to "develop a full factual record through discovery," and that it would be premature to dismiss the case at this early stage. He went on to argue that the DOJ's position would "leave thousands of career federal government employees without protections from discipline over the content of their political speech."
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Page also filed suit against the FBI and Department of Justice, alleging the government's publication of her salacious text messages with Strzok constituted a breach of the Federal Privacy Act.
Page's complaint also sought reimbursement for "the cost of childcare during and transportation to multiple investigative reviews and appearances before Congress," the "cost of paying a data-privacy service to protect her personal information" and attorney's fees.
Ex-FBI official Peter Strzok was fired in 2018 for sending anti-Trump texts. (Reuters)
The two were involved in the FBI’s initial counterintelligence investigation into Russian meddling and potential collusion with Trump campaign associates during the 2016 election and later served on special counsel Robert Mueller’s team.
In 2020, the spotlight was on the lovers' scandal during a live performance titled "FBI Lovebirds: UnderCovers" at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), which was based on the anti-Trump text messages shared between the former agents. Trump has called the couple the "FBI lovebirds" during his rallies.
Fox News' Gregg Re and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Jamie Joseph is a writer who covers politics. She leads Fox News Digital coverage of the Senate.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/doj-reaches-settlement-ex-fbi-lovebirds-caught-anti-trump-text-scandal