Disgraced “FBI lovebirds” Peter Strzok and Lisa Page have reached a “tentative” settlement with the Department of Justice over the alleged violation of their privacy rights with the release of their disparaging text messages about former President Donald Trump during the Russian collusion investigation.
The deal was disclosed in a court filing Tuesday that did not reveal any of the terms, the Washington Times reported.
Strzok, a former FBI counterintelligence agent who helped lead the Bureau’s investigation into accusations that Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Russia, was terminated in 2018 after his biased anti-Trump conversations with Page, an FBI lawyer, were exposed. During its review of his phone, the DOJ also revealed that he had been having an affair with Page, who resigned the same year.
The pair, referred to as the “FBI lovebirds” by Trump after the damning texts were used in a theater production by that name in 2019, alleged in a federal lawsuit filed in the District of Columbia that the DOJ infringed on their privacy rights when officials shared copies of their messages with the press, including texts calling Trump an “idiot’ and “loathsome human.”
Strzok also sued the department for firing him, arguing that the FBI gave in to “unrelenting pressure” from Trump and violated his First Amendment rights. He sought back pay and reinstatement in his lawsuit.
“Those constitutional claims have not been resolved by the tentative settlement,” according to a Times review of the court notice.
Page’s lawsuit 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, Fox News reported.
It is unclear if the tentative settlement, which is still pending finalization and approval from a judge, covered the plaintiff’s requests.