U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson set an October 14 deadline at a hearing Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by former FBI senior counterintelligence officer Peter Strzok. Strzok was an adulterous attorney who was fired by the FBI in 2018 after anti-Trump documents that Strzok exchanged with FBI chiefs were exposed.
In the previous Strzok case, the Justice Department vacated Trump’s subpoena for Strzok under a legal doctrine that sets the bar high for when current or former government officials can be compelled to testify in a case. Jackson has not settled those claims on the merits, but she said Wednesday that she wants to begin the privilege issue litigation process.
The Justice Department also asked the court to block the deposition Strzok is seeking against FBI Director Chris Wray.
Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is set to take depositions next month, and other former junior officials are also taking depositions.
Strzok was the target of verbal attacks by Trump and his allies as part of the greater outrage Trump expressed against the FBI during the Trump-Russia investigation. It publicly and repeatedly called for Mr. Strzok’s dismissal until he was removed from office on .
At Wednesday’s hearing, Justice Department attorneys indicated that two executive privileges may be at work: one that protects the president’s communications, and one that protects the deliberative process behind decision-making. .
Jackson questioned whether these privileges apply in situations dealing with employment decisions rather than devising policy.
After Strzok’s team fired Rosenstein and former FBI Deputy Director David Baudick next month, Strzok presented the subject matter and questions he wanted to ask Trump and Ray in a court filing due Sept. 29. intend to do something.t.
In a filing scheduled for Oct. 14, the Justice Department will inform the court of the areas of question in which the government plans to claim the President’s communications or deliberative process privileges. Another briefing on executive privileges in this case is scheduled for October 28th.
Source: www.cnn.com
