Justice Department prosecutors were granted a postponement of the deposition of former President Donald Trump in a four-year-old civil lawsuit filed by former FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. The case was filed in 2016 after the FBI's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, which Trump won.
Earlier this year, Justice Department prosecutors asked Jackson to postpone the former president's deposition, which was scheduled for May 24, to hold a meeting with Wray first. Prosecutors argued that deposing Trump before Wray violated the standing precedent that federal officials are questioned in order of seniority.
The White House said earlier this year that it would not assert executive privilege in the case to keep Strzok and Page from deposingTrump, and Trump himself did not request executive privilege be invoked.
A federal judge has blocked a May 24 deposition of former President Donald Trump in connection with lawsuits filed by former FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. The order was in response to a Justice Department motion filed on Thursday urging her to reconsider an earlier ruling that said that Trump and FBI Director Christopher Wray could be deposed in the lawsuits, without specifying the order of depositions.
Government attorneys argued that Wray's deposition, which has not been scheduled, could make Trump's unnecessary. The judge also defended her earlier ruling, saying "the ruling was appropriate" given all facts including "the former President’s own public statements concerning his role" relating to plaintiff firings.
Attorneys for Strzok, Page and Trump have not immediately responded to requests for comment on these developments within their ongoing legal battle against one another