Two former FBI officials have reached a tentative settlement with the Justice Department to resolve claims that their privacy was violated when text messages they exchanged disparaging former President Donald Trump were leaked to the news media. The deal was disclosed in a court filing that did not reveal specific terms.
One of the officials, a former top FBI counterintelligence agent, was fired in 2018 after the anti-Trump text messages came to light. The other official, a former FBI lawyer, voluntarily resigned the same year. Both officials alleged that the Justice Department infringed on their privacy rights when copies of their communication were shared with reporters in December 2017.
The text messages described Trump as an “idiot” and a “loathsome human” and expressed fear at the prospect of a Trump victory. The former FBI agent also sued the department over his termination, claiming that his firing was a result of pressure from Trump and a violation of his First Amendment rights.
The Justice Department inspector general’s office discovered the text messages while scrutinizing the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. The former FBI agent was a lead agent in that probe and was later removed from the special counsel team conducting the Trump-Russia investigation due to the text messages.
Despite the controversy surrounding the text messages, the inspector general found no evidence of political bias affecting the email investigation. The probe into the FBI’s handling of the Clinton email case identified flaws but did not attribute them to partisan bias.
Both officials declined to comment on the tentative settlement, as did a Justice Department spokesman. The department had previously stated that it was permissible to share the text messages with the media since they had also been disclosed to members of Congress.
