Former FBI lawyer Lisa Page is 'done being quiet' and tired of Trump's 'demeaning' abuse
Lisa Page, a 39-year-old former FBI lawyer whose text messages with colleague Peter Strzok have made her a frequent, persistent punching bag for President Trump and his Republican allies, is "done being quiet."
Why is Page breaking her silence now, nearly two years after The Washington Post first disclosed that the Justice Department inspector general was investigating her and, more gallingly, that she and Strzok had an affair? First, she told The Daily Beast's Molly Jong-Fast in an interview published late Sunday, she is finally free to talk, 18 months after leaving the FBI. The inspector general is also reportedly about to finally exonerate her of allegations she acted unprofessionally or showed bias against Trump in the Russia investigation. But mostly, Page said, she is tired of Trump's abuse, especially after he used her name in a simulated orgasm at an Oct. 11 rally in Minneapolis.
"Honestly, his demeaning fake orgasm was really the straw that broke the camel's back," Page said. "I had stayed quiet for years hoping it would fade away, but instead it got worse. ... It had been so hard not to defend myself, to let people who hate me control the narrative. I decided to take my power back." Trump has accused her of everything up to and including treason, and while those attacks are "very intimidating," "sickening," and "like being punched in the gut," she said, "I know there's no fathomable way that I have committed any crime at all, let alone treason."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Page said she's saddest about the politicization of the FBI and Justice Department, and she cited one example. A week or two after the Post story, "the Justice Department spokesperson, Sarah Flores, calls the beat reporters into the Justice Department ... to provide a cherry-picked selection of my text messages to review and report on in advance of [Deputy Attorney General] Rod Rosenstein going to the Hill the next morning," she said. "I can tell you that the reporters there that night were told that they weren't allowed to source them to the Justice Department, and that they weren't allowed to copy or remove them, just take notes." Flores, who now works for CNN, referred questions to the Justice Department, which declined a request for comment. Read the entire Page interview at The Daily Beast.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
'Solitude has become a notable, and worrisome, trend of our times'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US Published
-
Blake Lively accuses rom-com costar of smear job
Speed Read The actor accused Justin Baldoni, her director and costar on "It Ends With Us," of sexual harassment and a revenge campaign
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Germany arrests anti-Islam Saudi in SUV attack
Speed Read The attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg left five people dead and more than 200 wounded
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
ABC News to pay $15M in Trump defamation suit
Speed Read The lawsuit stemmed from George Stephanopoulos' on-air assertion that Trump was found liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Judge blocks Louisiana 10 Commandments law
Speed Read U.S. District Judge John deGravelles ruled that a law ordering schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms was unconstitutional
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'
Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security law
Speed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitution
speed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidence
Speed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulations
Speed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriage
Speed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published