Rod Rosenstein says he authorized release of Strzok-Page texts

Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said he made the decision to release to the media text messages between two FBI employees who criticized President Trump during the 2016 presidential election.

Rosenstein said in a court filing late Friday that he made the call in part to protect the FBI from selective leaks by Congress.

FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI attorney Lisa Page, who were having an affair, disparaged Trump in their exchanges and tried to reassure one another that he couldn’t be elected. The two also discussed an “insurance policy” to prevent Trump’s win. Trump and his supporters have used the messages to argue that there were efforts to prevent him from taking office, but Strzok and Page denied their messages were anything other than venting.

Both Page and Strzok are suing over the release, saying it invaded their privacy.

Until Friday, it was unclear who had authorized the release of hundreds of their text messages to journalists in December 2017.

Rosenstein said he approved the disclosure because he was set to testify to the House Judiciary Committee the next day and the release of the text messages by members of Congress, who had requested the messages, was inevitable.

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