Adding to the long list of the former president’s legal entanglements, the former president, Donald Trump, gave a deposition this week in the case in which he’s being sued by former FBI official Peter Strzok and lawyer Lisa Page.
Longtime followers of former President Donald Trump’s rallies and social media posts likely know the story of Peter Strzok and Lisa Page very well. Both worked for the FBI, with Strzok an official and Page a lawyer and were involved with investigating Trump’s ties to Russia. Both were on Robert Mueller’s team in the early days, until it was discovered that the two had an affair, and had sent each other hundreds of text messages. Both were eventually fired from their government positions.
According to Trump and Trumpworld, the two were part of a “Deep State” conspiracy against him; Trump used to tweet about this constantly, often referring to Page as “the lovely Lisa Page.” This became such a scandal on the right that a play, called “FBI Lovebirds,” based on their text messages, was staged in Washington back in early 2020.
In addition to all of his other indictments and lawsuits, Trump has been sued by Strzok and Page, alleging wrongful termination, and per CNN, Trump was deposed in that case this week and was questioned by attorneys for both Strzok and Page.
The case has been in the courts for years, including the question of whether the ex-president could even be deposed, and the Biden Administration had even sought to shield Trump from testifying.
It is not known what Trump said in the deposition.
“Strzok is accusing the Justice Department of wrongfully terminating him because of Trump’s publicly stated anger toward him and the Russia investigation. He and Page are also suing over the release of their text messages to the press,” the CNN story said. “Trump was allowed to be questioned on Tuesday at the deposition for no more than two hours. A judge previously put specific parameters around the questions he could be asked. Strzok’s and Page’s attorneys were able to ask Trump about his public statements and other communications he made about the pair in 2017 and 2018.”
The deposition took place in New York, where Trump is in town for a different proceeding, his civil fraud trial. And there was some drama in the courtroom on Wednesday.
According to the Associated Press, a woman got up during the trial and walked towards where Trump was sitting. The woman was warned to return to her seat and was ultimately escorted out of the courtroom. The woman was arrested and charged with contempt of court.
The woman, per the report, was not a protester but had claimed that she in fact wanted to help the former president.
Also during the proceedings Wednesday, Trump “threw up his hands in frustration and grumbled to his lawyers while a witness was testifying against him.” This led to a warning to Trump and his attorneys by Judge Arthur Engoron, for Trump to keep his voice down.
“See what’s happened? The government lied. They just lie. They didn’t reveal all of the information that they had,” Trump could be heard saying during the court break. “They didn’t reveal all the evidence that made me totally innocent of anything that they say.”
It was also announced this week, according to another AP story, that a star witness in the trial, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, has postponed his testimony for health reasons.
“Unfortunately I need to attend to a pre-existing medical condition that impedes my ability to testify this upcoming week. Rest assured, I will testify at the earliest opportunity,” Cohen told NBC News this week.
Cohen, known as Trump’s “fixer” for many years, up until shortly after he became president, had a well-publicized break with the former president, and ended up spending time in prison for lying under oath. Cohen has since reinvented himself as an author and podcaster, often focused on his former boss.
Author Expertise and Experience:
Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Stephen has authored thousands of articles over the years that focus on politics, technology, and the economy for over a decade. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
