"I sued the Department of Justice and FBI today." -Lisa Page
On Tuesday, former FBI attorney Lisa Page tweeted that she sued the Department of Justice and the FBI, but claims that she took no pleasure in it. However, she feels that it was necessary, alleging that information about her was improperly handed over to the media.
I sued the Department of Justice and FBI today.
I take little joy in having done so. But what they did in leaking my messages to the press was not only wrong, it was illegal.https://t.co/ecR58rmxlB
— Lisa Page (@NatSecLisa) December 10, 2019
Page claims that "leaking [her] messages to the press was not only wrong, it was illegal."
Page’s lawsuit accuses the DOJ and FBI of violating the Privacy Act by “unlawfully” releasing text message exchanges between her and fired FBI agent Peter Strzok, who she engaged in an extramarital affair with while at the bureau. She and Strzok were involved in the investigation of failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s emails, and of the probe into the 2016 Trump campaign’s alleged ties to Russia.
In her lawsuit, the former FBI attorney further claims President Donald Trump used the messages to impugn her character, which she says has garnered her “unwanted media attention that has radically altered her day-to-day life.”
The lovers criticized Donald Trump and his supporters in messages that they exchanged. That's what prompted Strzok's removal from the special counsel on Robert Mueller's investigation in the first place.
Their discussion of an “insurance” policy has fueled suspicion among Trump supporters that the agency intended to remove Trump from office if he won.
Page was interviewed by Daily Beast's Molly Jong-Fast on the affair. When Molly asked why Page chose to come forward now, she responded (speaking about Trump), “Honestly, his demeaning fake sensation was really the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
Trump recited an imaginary, comic dialogue between Page and Strzok at a recent Minnesota rally.
Page, who proudly tweeted her interview, is speaking out a week ahead of the much-anticipated release of the Department of Justice Inspector General’s report into alleged abuses and irregularities by the FBI in its conduct of the investigation into the Trump campaign.
“While it would be nice to have the IG confirm publicly that my personal opinions had absolutely no bearing on the course of the Russia investigations, I don’t kid myself that the fact will matter very much for a lot of people. The president has a very loud megaphone," she continued.
Jong-Fast, observing that “having been through the MAGA meat grinder has clearly worn [Page] down,” reports that Page finds the president’s attacks “intimidating.”
She adds that the issue of Clinton’s emails “would soon give way to an actual threat to national security, one that existed not in the fever dreams of Fox and the Breitbart comments section, but in the real, dangerous world the FBI exists to protect us from” — namely, Russian interference in the election.
Page added that when she found out she was under investigation, she was more worried about her affair being exposed than any political messages she may have sent.
Jong-Fast concluded the interview, “It’s not just that Lisa Page may never be safe as long as Trump is President. It’s that we won’t be safe, either.”
