Former FBI agent Peter Strzok sued the agency, alleging wrongful termination, and former FBI personnel Lisa Page is suing the agency, alleging invasion of privacy. The two were spotlighted in the “Russiagate” scandal, where the agency investigated ties between the former president and Russia in the 2016 elections and ultimately could not bring charges. Text messages between Mr. Strzok and Ms. Page were publicized, revealing their bias against the then-presidential candidate.
DOJ: No Need for President’s Testimony
The DOJ has argued multiple times that there is no need for President Trump to testify.Earlier this year, the department made the argument that FBI Director Christopher Wray’s deposition would suffice to provide any evidence President Trump would have been called to provide in his testimony. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, had allowed a stay on deposing President Trump in the meantime.
The DOJ argued that there was no evidence Mr. Strzok’s firing had to do with President Trump. The FBI had stated, when Mr. Strzok was terminated, that the agent was “subject to the standard FBI review and disciplinary process” prior to the decision.
“Only the most extraordinary of circumstances would justify allowing a plaintiff to depose a former high-level official about actions he took in the course of his official duties. This case falls far short of that standard,” the department argued in appellate court after Judge Jackson upheld her ruling to allow the deposition of President Trump.
They argued that former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, and Mr. Wray, have already testified, rendering the deposition unnecessary.
“Strzok hardly needs to confirm whether the President expressed the same views in meetings in the Oval Office that he expressed publicly,” the department argued.
In Mr. Kelly’s testimony, which was released in July, he had said he did not know of President Trump ordering an investigation into Mr. Strzok or Ms. Page, but that the president did want to see them investigated.
Aitan Goelman, attorney for Mr. Strzok, suggested the DOJ’s multiple efforts to block the deposition were telling. “The lengths to which the government has gone to prevent this deposition is striking and suggests that their true concern is what Mr. Trump will say,” he said in a statement to CNN.