Two former FBI officials involved in the investigation of Russia's alleged interference in Donald Trump's 2016 campaign reached a settlement with the Department of Justice on Tuesday, Politico reports.
The litigation was connected to the department's 2017 leak of former FBI agent Peter Strzok and former FBI attorney Lisa Page's "politically charged text messages criticizing Donald Trump while they were having an affair," according to The Washington Post.
The pair filed the suit in 2019 accusing the department of violating their privacy.
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Per Politico, "Until now, the Justice Department has denied liability and fought the claims in both suits. Efforts to resolve the cases through mediation have been underway for at least six months."
The Post reports:
Strzok had filed suit earlier in August 2019, claiming he was unfairly terminated for criticizing the president and seeking reinstatement and back pay. In Tuesday’s filing, attorneys for Strzok and the Justice Department’s civil division, federal programs branch, said they had not resolved his claims that his First Amendment and due process rights under the Constitution were violated, saying they would brief the court shortly on how each side wished to proceed.
Politico notes the text messages showed Strzok, "who also played a role in the investigation of Clinton’s handling of classified information," and Page "exchanged texts describing Trump as an 'idiot,' saying that Hillary Clinton deserved to win by a huge margin, and disparaging Trump supporters."
The news outlet also points out that "for years, Trump engaged in harsh attacks against the pair on social media and in speeches, using the texts to mock them and their relationship in crude terms."
The Post notes, "In August 2016, after Page wrote Trump was 'not ever going to become president, right? Right?!' Strzok responded: 'No. No he’s not. We’ll stop it.'"
Politico's full report is available at this link. The Post's report is available here (subscription required).