Left: Peter Strzok (AP Photo/Alex Brandon). Right: Lisa Page (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Lawyers for former FBI lawyer Lisa Page and fired FBI agent Peter Strzok scheduled a mid-October deposition for former President Donald Trump to testify as a witness in their lawsuits against the U.S. Department of Justice.
Strzok and Page, former lovers remembered for their involvement in both the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private server and in former special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of Trump and his associates, are each suing the DOJ over the release of anti-Trump text messages they sent to each other in 2015 and 2016 — texts which ultimately led to a public shaming and the end of their FBI careers.
Page, who resigned from the FBI, alleged in her lawsuit that the release of the texts violated her privacy rights. Strzok, who was fired from the FBI, also alleged privacy violations but took his case a step further: He argued he was wrongfully terminated for protected speech in violation of the First Amendment and claimed his Fifth Amendment right to due process was infringed.
While Trump is not a defendant in the lawsuits, plaintiffs maintained that the former president’s testimony about his role in influencing their FBI ousters with his persistent and personal social media attacks.
In early September, an appellate court agreed that Trump could be deposed for two hours on a “narrow set of topics,” despite the objections raised by the Biden administration’s DOJ that the “D.C. Circuit and virtually every other court of appeals have recognized that subjecting high-level government officials — to say nothing of current or former Presidents — ‘to oral deposition is not normally countenanced.’”
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Now that Strzok and Page got the the judicial go-ahead, Trump’s deposition in the civil cases has been set for Oct. 17.
“Pursuant to the Court’s directive of September 8, 2023, Plaintiffs Peter Strzok and Lisa Page are filing this Notice that Mr. Trump’s deposition has been scheduled for October 17, 2023,” said the Thursday notice filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. “Plaintiffs will endeavor to consult with Defendants and file a status report in the days following Mr. Trump’s deposition, as requested by the Court on September 8.”
But the high-profile plaintiffs appear concerned about how a possible government shutdown could throw a wrench into their plans.
“Plaintiffs recognize that a government shutdown appears likely to commence on October 1, 2023, and that the Department of Justice may request stays in nearly all civil actions in which it is a party,” the notice continued. “Plaintiffs are also aware of the possibility of a district-wide default stay in such cases. Considering the lengthy effort that scheduling Mr. Trump’s deposition required (see Exhibit A) and that a stay might result in substantial delay of the conclusion of this action, Plaintiffs will oppose any stay and expect to promptly request relief from any default stay that is imposed.”
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