Former President Donald Trump will need to sit for a deposition in a civil suit brought by former FBI agents fired under his presidency after a federal court of appeals rejected a bid on Friday by the Justice Department to block the ex-president’s testimony.
The DOJ had argued that deposing Trump is “not appropriate” considering there is no evidence in that case to indicate that the FBI fired then-agent Peter Strzok at Trump’s direction, even if Trump wanted his removal. The ruling on Friday adds on top of various other cases where the former president is set to be deposed.
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But a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled Friday that government petitioners had not shown “they are entitled to the extraordinary remedy” they sought to block the former president’s deposition over the matter. The ruling was split 2-1.
DOJ attorneys argued that a July 6 district court ruling that also rejected the effort to block Trump’s deposition marked a “clear abuse of discretion.”
The panel’s decision on Friday stated that before authorizing the deposition, “the district court held multiple hearings on the relevant issues, considered several rounds of additional briefing, and required respondents to exhaust other means of obtaining the information they sought.” The judges added that the district court limited the deposition to two hours, and to a “narrow set of topics identified.”
“Under these circumstances, petitioners have not shown that the district court’s conclusion was a clear abuse of discretion warranting mandamus relief,” the panel added.
The lawsuit was filed by former FBI agents Strzok and Lisa Page in 2019 after they were fired from their positions while working on the investigation into alleged ties between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia. Text messages from the two while they were working on the investigation showed them espousing anti-Trump sentiments.
Strzok argued he was terminated for political reasons and is seeking to be reinstated at the bureau and be awarded damages. Page is claiming her privacy rights were violated with the text messages being revealed while also seeking damages.
The messages between the two former agents also revealed they were involved in an affair together. During his time in office, Trump tweeted on several occasions about Strzok, calling him a “sick loser,” “incompetent,” and “corrupt” and celebrating his termination from the FBI.
The case between the DOJ and the agents marked a rare occurrence in which the federal government was seeking to help the former president, in this case to avoid a deposition, as he is currently facing two federal criminal cases brought by the agency over his alleged attempts to subvert the 2020 election and retain classified materials.
On Sept. 6, Trump is slated to be deposed in his $500 million case against his former attorney Michael Cohen, in which Trump alleges Cohen’s breaches of contract caused him reputational harm.
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And in a case likely headed for trial in early October, Trump was deposed for seven hours with New York Attorney General Letitia James’s office in April as part of the civil fraud case against him and the Trump Organization.
The Washington Examiner contacted the DOJ for a response.
