DOJ Moves to Quash Subpoena for Trump in FBI Dismissal Case (Newsmax)
By Charles Kim | Monday, 03 October 2022 05:30 PM EDT
President Joe Biden's Department of Justice took action Monday to try to stop former President Donald Trump from getting a deposition subpoena from former FBI agent Peter Strzok, and former FBI attorney Lisa Page's wrongful termination lawsuit.
The agency released several exhibits in a court filing Saturday to stop a request to subpoena Trump in the case, including the Aug. 8, 2018, letter to Strzok firing him from his deputy assistant director position at the FBI.
"In your adjudication, I removed all the politics, pundits, commentary, and the media from reporting the decision point which I must address," Deputy Director David Bowdich wrote to Strzok at the time. "When I strip away all the 'noise,' I am left with the facts and extremely damaging impact to the organization, which will take years to overcome.
"As Deputy Assistant Director you were expected to be a leader who was beyond reproach and set an example for not only our direct subordinates, but others throughout the organization who watched and observed your behavior and actions. You failed to do so repeatedly and put your own interests about the interests of the organization. Though it pains me to do so, it is for this reason that I am dismissing you from the rolls of the F.B.I."
Both Strzok, who played a key role in both the Hillary Clinton email and the early part of the Russian collusion investigation, and Page, were fired from the agency after texts between the couple were released calling out their bias against then President Trump.
The pair filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the DOJ and FBI in 2019 and sought to depose the former president for his disparaging remarks, and alleged role in their firing.
According to the court document, however, Bowdich testified that Trump had no role in his decision to fire Strzok and Page and had never discussed the issue with him during their private meetings.
"[I] Never saw the President [Trump] get involved in the termination of anyone beyond the politically-appointed [former] Director [James Comey]," Bowdich testified, according to the document.
Bowdich further testified that he "absolutely" did not recall Comey's successor, FBI Director Christopher Wray ever mentioning that Trump sought the pair's firing during their private meetings, and that he was trying to keep Wray away from deciding Strzok and Page's fate at the bureau.
"I had looked at those texts over, and over, and over, again," Bowdich said in his testimony cited in the document. "I was seeing the damage that it was doing to our organization."