DOJ moves to block Trump from being questioned under oath by former FBI employees: report

Justice Department officials are asking a federal appeals court to stop former President Donald Trump from being questioned as part of a lawsuit brought by a pair of former high-ranking FBI employees, reportedThe Washington Post on Thursday.

"The decision was disclosed in an urgent court filing in which department attorneys wrote that U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar on Thursday approved an appeal unless U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson revisits her decision," reported Spencer S. Hsu. Judge Jackson authorized a deposition of Trump, as well as FBI Director Christopher Wray, in February. "Strzok seeks reinstatement and back pay over what he alleges was his unfair termination. Former FBI attorney Lisa Page alleges officials unlawfully released the trove of messages to reporters."

Lawyers for the Justice Department argue that the specific issue at hand — whether Trump improperly pressured Wray into political retaliation against Strzok and Page — doesn't require the former president to be deposed, as Wray already can give this information on his own.

Longstanding federal policy requires litigants against the government to exhaust testimony from lower-ranking officials before going after higher-ranking ones.

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"The basis of Jackson’s decision to allow Trump and Wray to be questioned remains under seal, as are the substance of depositions of other witnesses, and portions of the government’s public filings Thursday were redacted. Attorneys for Strzok and for Page did not immediately respond to a request for comment," said the report. "The messages from 2016 between Strzok and Page discussed their intense dislike of Trump and their fear that he might win the presidency. They have fueled claims that the FBI was prejudiced against Trump since they were made public in December 2017." Since the messages came out, Strzok and Page were frequent public scapegoats for Trump and his supporters.

All of this comes as Trump is facing an avalanche of other legal problems, including a $5 million judgment for sexual abuse and defamation won by writer E. Jean Carroll, criminal charges in Manhattan for fraudulently concealing a hush payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, and multiple other state and federal investigations.