In a case involving two petitions filed by former FBI agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, a judge has denied a Justice Department motion made by Vice President Biden.

According to NBC News, the DOJ was attempting to prevent former President Trump from giving sworn testimony in the suits “to determine whether he met with and directly pressured FBI and Justice Department officials to fire Strzok or urged any White House aides to do so.”

According to the report, “The judge’s order was in response to the Justice Department asking her to reconsider an earlier ruling that said Strzok’s attorneys could move forward with a deposition of Trump in lawsuits against the Justice Department and FBI filed by Strzok and Page in 2019. The Justice Department had argued Wednesday that ‘newly available evidence’ stemming from FBI Director Christopher Wray’s testimony last week, as well as sworn testimony from other high-level government officials with ‘direct knowledge’ of Trump’s communications regarding Strzok and Page, was grounds for reconsidering a deposition involving the former president.”

Attorneys for the Department of Justice stated, “The availability of that evidence to Mr. Strzok means the deposition of former President Trump is not appropriate,” which furthered their earlier defense of the “apex doctrine,” which “prevents high-ranking executive officials from being subject to depositions unless extraordinary circumstances exist.”

Attorneys for the Department of Justice had previously argued that Wray’s testimony could render Trump’s deposition unnecessary. Although many details were withheld from the court brief, the Department of Justice highlighted “newly available evidence” in support of their case.

Thursday, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who was nominated by former President Barack Hussein Obama, ruled that Trump could participate in depositions.

“The outcome of the balancing required by the apex doctrine remains the same for all of the previously stated reasons,” Jackson stated in her ruling. “Given the limited nature of the deposition that has been ordered, and the fact that the former President’s schedule appears to be able to accommodate other civil litigation that he has initiated.”

“Additionally, she noted that the existing testimony did not seem to bolster the claim that Trump was directly responsible for terminating Strzok. However, she highlighted that the former president had “publicly boasted” about his participation in the issue,” Conservative Brief reported.

Two months ago, Jackson had approved the blocking of deposing Trump on May 24 in relation to the lawsuits, supporting the Justice Department’s plea to depose Wray first. However, she reiterated that her previous decision to allow Trump’s deposition remained valid.

Following the exposure of critical text messages about Trump in December 2017, Strzok and Page were removed from then-special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. In one exchange, Strzok suggested that he and the bureau would stop Trump from becoming president in favor of his Democratic challenger, Hillary Clinton. CONTINUE READING…