According to ABC News, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has reached a settlement agreement with former FBI agent Peter Struzk.
A former FBI agent who was fired from the bureau in 2018 after it came to light that he had sent text messages critical of former President Donald Trump has reached a settlement in his lawsuit against the Department of Justice. Strzok's lawyers announced that the U.S. government has agreed to pay him $1.2 million to resolve claims that his privacy rights were violated by the release of his private text messages. according to To ABC News.
Former FBI agent Peter Struzk has reached a $1.2 million settlement with the Department of Justice, his lawyer announced. https://t.co/sQOqAaniRq
— ABC 7 Chicago (@ABC7Chicago) July 26, 2024
Strzok filed suit in 2019, alleging that the FBI and Department of Justice illegally released text messages that were derogatory to Trump during and after the 2016 election. The messages were exchanged during a key period when Strzok was leading the investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server and alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, the outlet reported. (Related story: “Call of Condemnation”: Disgraced ex-FBI agent says GOP criticism of FBI incites “violence” against government)
The controversy over Strzok intensified after President Trump emphasized the messages and suggested Strzok's bias had undermined the integrity of the Russia investigation, according to ABC News. After the Justice Department's inspector general uncovered the messages, special counsel Robert Mueller removed Strzok from his office and moved him to human resources, but he was eventually fired.
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 12: FBI Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok testifies during a joint committee hearing of the House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform Committees at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on July 12, 2018. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
According to ABC News, the lawsuit alleges that “the FBI fired Special Agent Strzok for political speech protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.”
“This ruling is an important step in addressing the government's unfair and highly politicized treatment of Pete, and while it is important to Pete, it also protects the privacy rights of all government employees,” Struzk's lawyer, Aitan Goleman, said in a statement to ABC News.
