(DailyAnswer.org) – The Department of Justice has settled a lawsuit with former disgraced FBI agents Lisa Page and Peter Strzok after the pair sued the government for releasing private text messages they exchanged on their government issued phones discussing their political biases. The pair were heavily involved in the investigations into the Russian collusion hoax and Hillary Clinton’s email server during the 2016 electoral cycle, and their negative opinions of Donald Trump may have influenced the findings.
Strzok headed up the investigation into the Russian collusion claims and told Page “We’ll stop it,” referring to the election of Donald Trump. Conservative commentators are suggesting the settlement with the Biden administration was a payoff. Strzok will receive $1.2 million and Page will get $800,000 in payouts from the taxpayers according to court filings.
Strzok’s lawyers argued that his text messages were First Amendment protected speech, despite being inflammatory, indicative of bias, and sent over government-issued phones. They suggested that their clients were disciplined over their political speech when in reality people were concerned that their political speech betrayed an incredible bias while Strzok was heavily involved in both investigations.
Strzok was fired in August 2018 with the official cause cited as “extremely poor judgment and a gross lack of professionalism” for his text conversations with Page. The pair were having a romantic affair, Strzok was married at the time. His wife, Melissa Hodgman, was the then-Director of Enforcement with the Securities and Exchange Commission and they’re still married, curiously enough.
The text messages were released by the DOJ’s inspector general who suggested the public had a right to know that the agents in charge of investigating allegations of Trump colluding with the Russians were heavily biased against him. Strzok’s lawyers argued that they were released to gain favor with the Trump administration and suggested that any anti-Trump bias at the agency was a “false narrative.”
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