Federal Judge Rules Donald Trump Can Be Deposed In Lawsuits By Ex-FBI Employees Whom He Attacked Online
Feb. 23 2023, Published 5:45 p.m. ET
A federal judge ruled on Thursday that former president Donald Trump could be deposed in two separate lawsuits brought on by two ex-FBI employees. The former FBI officials accused Trump of unfair retaliation after they were tasked with investigating connections between his 2016 presidential campaign and influence from Russia, RadarOnline.com has learned.
In addition to attacks against the federal agency, Trump, 76, smeared the FBI publicly following the raid at his Florida private club, Mar-A-Lago, which turned up droves of boxes containing top-secret classified documents.
After the ruling, Former-FBI Special Agent Peter Strzok and former-FBI attorney Lisa Page were given the go-ahead to question the one-term president under strict guidelines.
U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson allowed Trump's deposition to move forward in Strzok and Page's cases. In addition to Trump, the federal judge ruled that the former employees could also question FBI Director Christopher Wray.
As for Trump's deposition, Strzok and Page's lawyers will be prohibited to strict criteria. Judge Jackson ruled that both Trump and Wray's depositions would be under oath and limited to two hours of questioning.
In addition to a set time limit, a "narrow set of topics" would also be outlined on what could be discussed, according to NBC News.
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What exactly was included in the "narrow set of topics" was not disclosed in the ruling from the sealed hearing.
After numerous instances of being targeted by the former president during his social media rants and rally speeches, the former employees filed separate lawsuits in 2019 against the Department of Justice and the FBI.
Former agent Strzok alleged wrongful termination in his lawsuit, while Page claimed privacy violations in her filing.
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The lawsuits came after Strzok was fired in 2018 over text messages he exchanged with Page — who he was having an affair with at the time — that painted then-President Trump in a damning light.
The messages were used by Republican lawmakers as an attempt to discredit the former FBI employees and their work in the Russia-Trump 2016 campaign probe.
As for the ex-prez, his only hope of blocking the deposition hinges on an unlikely ally, President Joe Biden.
The federal judge set a March 24 deadline for President Biden to respond to her ruling.
The deadline allows for Biden to determine whether or not to invoke executive privileges concerning specific topics that were not featured in the ruling.
Judge Jackson stated that her ruling did not "resolve any questions related to either the Presidential communications prong or the deliberative process prong of the executive privilege."