DOJ asks judge to put Trump deposition on hold in lawsuit from ex-FBI agent Peter Strzok

By Mary Kay Mallonee, CNN

The Justice Department asked a judge on Thursday to put on hold the deposition of former President Donald Trump in a lawsuit from ex-FBI agent Peter Strzok, who sued over his 2018 termination.

The deposition is scheduled to take place on May 24, according to court documents.

In its filing, the Justice Department argued that FBI Director Christopher Wray should be deposed first, before Trump.

“Director Wray’s testimony could obviate the need for any deposition for former President Trump,” the government said.

The Justice Department asked “that the court order that Mr. Wray’s deposition be held first, and that the former President’s deposition is not authorized until the Court has the benefit of the transcript of Director Wray’s deposition.”

A federal judge ruled in February that Trump and Wray can be deposed for two hours each as part of the lawsuit.

Strzok, a former top FBI counterintelligence official, who was fired by the FBI in 2018 after the revelation of anti-Trump texts he had exchanged with a top lawyer at the bureau, Lisa Page, sued the Justice Department alleging he was terminated improperly.

The government has previously argued that Strzok hadn’t proven Trump played a role in his dismissal. Despite Trump’s repeated and public calls for Strzok’s dismissal, it was the FBI’s then-deputy director, David Bowdich, who made the decision to fire him, DOJ has argued.

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