Judicial Watch: Federal Court Orders Hearing About Whether to Speed Up Strzok-Page Docs Release

‘Upon further consideration, the Court is concerned that the processing rate adopted by the Court may be inadequate’

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced that U.S. District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton last week ordered a hearing on Tuesday, July 30, 2019, regarding the rate of production of emails, text messages, and other communications between former FBI official Peter Strzok and former FBI attorney Lisa Page. The court scheduled the hearing to discuss: “Upon further consideration, the Court is concerned that the processing rate adopted by the Court may be inadequate.”  The court’s July 24 order follows a joint status report by the FBI and Judicial Watch that discloses that only 6,000 of almost 20,000 responsive records have been processed since May 2018.

The hearing comes in a January 2018 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit for all communications between Strzok and Page (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:18-cv-00154)).

Date: Tuesday, July 29, 2019

Time: 11:00 a.m. ET

Location:Courtroom 16
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
333 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20001

Strzok and Page were key investigators in the Clinton email and Russia collusion investigations. Strzok was removed from the Mueller investigative team in July 2017 and reassigned to a human resources position after it was discovered that he and Page, who worked for FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, and with whom Strzok was carrying on an extramarital affair, exchanged pro-Clinton and anti-Trump text messages. Page resigned in May 2018. Strzok was dismissed from the FBI in August 2018.

“The FBI has been slow rolling the release of Page-Strzok communications and is still hiding all their infamous text messages,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “We hope the Court recognizes the pubic interest in ensuring the FBI quickly releases key documents about the biggest scandal in American history – the Spygate abuses targeting President Trump.”

On May 21, 2018, U.S. District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton ordered the FBI to begin processing thousands of pages of previously undisclosed records between FBI officials Strzok and Page.

In June, Judicial Watch uncovered documents in this case including emails showing the FBI’s attempts to muddle former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony on the Hillary Clinton email investigation and collusion between the FBI and the media. Other documents revealed then-FBI General Counsel James Baker instructing FBI officials to expedite the release of FBI investigative material to Hillary Clinton’s lawyer, David Kendall in August 2016. Kendall and the FBI’s top lawyer discussed specifically quickly obtaining Clinton’s “302” report of the FBI/DOJ interview.

In February, Judicial Watch uncovered documents showing an evident cover-up of a chart of potential violations of law by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Also, Judicial Watch received documents exposing that Baker discussed the investigation of Clinton-related emails on Anthony Weiner’s laptop with Clinton’s lawyer, David Kendall. Baker then forwarded the conversation to his FBI colleagues.

In September 2018, Judicial Watch uncovered documents showing email exchanges between fired FBI official Peter Strzok and FBI attorney Lisa Page revealing that FBI officials used unsecure devices in discussing how the U.S. could improve the sharing of sensitive data with the European Union top executive governing commission. The documents also reveal that high-ranking FBI officials were not properly read-in to top secret programs.

In July 2018, Judicial Watch received documents from the Department of Justice revealing former top FBI official Peter Strzok and FBI attorney Lisa Page’s profanity-laced disdain for FBI hierarchy and policies.

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