Friday afternoons are notorious for “news dumps” out of Washington, D.C. — tidbits of info regarding what the government is up to that would rankle most Americans are quietly put out there as peoples’ attention is focused on winding down their work week/beginning their weekend rather than Swamp intrigue.
So it was that late Friday afternoon came the announcement that the Department of Justice has formally settled the claims brought against it by former FBI agent Peter Strzok and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, asserting that the release of their text exchanges in relation to the investigations into Hillary Clinton’s emails and the “Russia Collusion” hoax regarding former President Donald Trump violated their privacy.
If the news sounds vaguely familiar, it is because the tentative settlement was originally announced in late May.
Feds Announce Settlement With Peter Strzok and Lisa Page Over Privacy Claims
Now, however, the details have been finalized, and we know just how much of our tax dollars will be going to pay off the lovebirds for having the messages they exchanged on government-issued devices, which became pertinent to the investigation into the Midyear Exam and Crossfire Hurricane debacles — which they helped set in motion — made public.
The Justice Department has agreed to settle claims by former senior FBI special agent Peter P. Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page, who had filed lawsuits accusing the government of violating their privacy rights by leaking their politically charged text messages criticizing Donald Trump.
Strzok will receive a $1.2 million settlement and Page $800,000, according to their attorneys and settlement agreements released by the department.
That’s right — our federal government will be dispensing $2 million in taxpayer dollars to settle claims by former government employees who exchanged messages on government-issued devices that the disclosure of said messages — which went directly to the heart of investigations in which they played critical roles — violated their privacy.
(The settlement won’t dispense with all of Strzok’s claims, however. He still has pending claims that both his First and Fifth Amendment rights were violated when he was fired.)
Some, noting the dubious validity of the privacy claims, wondered if something else might be afoot.
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Following the announcement of the settlement, Page issued the following statement:
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.
Right, so the government employees who played politics with the lives of the entire country bemoan playing politics when it affects them personally. Well, that’s rich. And now, so are Page and Strzok.
