A US judge ordered former President Donald Trump on Thursday to be questioned in two cases against the Justice Department and FBI by two former agency employees who claim his White House improperly pressured them.
US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered FBI Director Christopher Wray to be deposed by lawyers for Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, who traded text messages disparaging Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.
According to the judge's short ruling, both Trump and Wray must answer questions for two hours, but only on a "narrow set" of issues, according to Reuters.
Jackson ordered US President Joe Biden till March 24 to determine whether to assert presidential privilege to restrict deposition questions.
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Trump's claim that the FBI was prejudiced against him because of his politics relied mostly on communications between Strzok and Page.
Since 2017, Donald Trump has blasted Strzok and Page for sending anti-Trump messages while working for the FBI and having an affair with one another.
An Unlawful Dismissal
Strzok, a senior FBI counterintelligence employee at the time, was removed from a Department of Justice investigation into Russian election activity after special counsel Robert Mueller discovered his messages. In 2018, Strzok lost his job.
In 2019, Strzok and Page each sued the Justice Department and the FBI in a civil lawsuit, as reported by CNBC.
Strzok said he was dismissed "because of his protected political speech," which desecrates his constitutional right.
Strzok and Page's lawyers requested information from Donald Trump and Wray after interviewing several lower-ranking officers and people linked to the complaint.
A Washington Post report alleged that Donald Trump's recent interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, in which he boasted about dismissing the duo and other officials, may have persuaded the judge, per The Huff Post.
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