All rights reserved)WASHINGTON – The Justice Department asked a judge Thursday to put on hold a scheduled deposition of Donald Trump in a lawsuit brought by an FBI agent who was fired over text messages critical of the former president. The government said in a federal court filing that a judge should order lawyers for Peter Strzok to take the deposition of FBI Director Christopher Wray before they seek to question Trump. Lawyers for Trump support the Justice Department’s position, according to a footnote in the government’s filing, while Strzok’s attorneys oppose it. “These circumstances do not rise to the ‘extraordinary circumstances’ necessary to authorize the deposition of a current or former high-ranking government official, much less a former President,” the Justice Department wrote. Strzok's lawyers have said they want to question Trump about whether he met with and pressured FBI and Justice Department officials to fire him.

Source: The Nation May 12, 2023 04:08 UTC