--- title: Rosenstein Released FBI's Peter Strzok and Lisa Page Texts description: Rod Rosenstein authorized the release of private text messages between two former FBI employees critical to President Donald Trump. canonical: https://time.com/5767861/rod-rosenstein-text-messages-fbi-peter-strzok-lisa-page/ author: Jasmine Aguilera article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-01-18T21:05:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:06:06.506Z article:section: Politics og:title: Rod Rosenstein Authorized the Release of Text Messages Between FBI Employees Peter Strzok and Lisa Page og:description: The texts have fueled allegations of FBI bias og:url: https://time.com/5767861/rod-rosenstein-text-messages-fbi-peter-strzok-lisa-page/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8e49a3b0dd8009e/698a0905457a522446d636d0/Rod-Rosenstein-Texts.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Testifies To Committee On Justice Dept.'s Budget og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rod Rosenstein Authorized the Release of Text Messages Between FBI Employees Peter Strzok and Lisa Page twitter:description: The texts have fueled allegations of FBI bias twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8e49a3b0dd8009e/698a0905457a522446d636d0/Rod-Rosenstein-Texts.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Rod Rosenstein Authorized the Release of Text Messages Between FBI Employees Peter Strzok and Lisa Page: Court Filing > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: FBI Agent Peter Strzok Speaks Out Against Bias Allegations [Watch (HLS stream): FBI Agent Peter Strzok Speaks Out Against Bias Allegations](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/1kzZWkLa.m3u8) (2:30)  _Published 2018-07-12. FBI agent Peter Strzok pushes back hard on suggestion that his personal political beliefs influenced his handling of investigative duties._ by [Jasmine Aguilera](https://time.com/author/jasmine-aguilera/) ## Jasmine Aguilera Jan 18, 2020 9:05 PM UTC  Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein testifies during a Senate Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on the Justice Department's proposed FY18 budget on Capitol Hill on June 13, 2017 in Washington, D.C. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein testifies during a Senate Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on the Justice Department's proposed FY18 budget on Capitol Hill on June 13, 2017 in Washington, D.C. Zach Gibson/Getty Images by [Jasmine Aguilera](https://time.com/author/jasmine-aguilera/) ## Jasmine Aguilera Jan 18, 2020 9:05 PM UTC Former Deputy Attorney General [Rod Rosenstein](https://time.com/5404957/rod-rosenstein-fired-resigned-vacancies/) authorized the release of private text messages between two former [FBI employees](https://time.com/5337512/peter-strzok-congress-hearing/) critical to [President Donald Trump](https://time.com/5739982/putin-winner-impeachment-hearings/), according to a Justice Department [court filing released late Friday night](https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.209963/gov.uscourts.dcd.209963.38.0.pdf). The text messages, released to media two years ago, were between [FBI agent Peter Strzok](https://time.com/5646063/peter-strzok-fbi-mueller-trump-fired-lawsuit/) and FBI lawyer Lisa Page who were assigned to the investigation into collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. The two referred to Trump as an “idiot” and expressed support for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. The texts have fueled allegations of FBI bias by supporters of the Trump Administration and the President himself. > [](https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1201563617180733440) The 375 messages were released to media the day before Rosenstein was scheduled to testify before Congress on Dec. 13, 2017. The latest court filing in the lawsuit brought against the Department of Justice (DOJ) by Strzok — which claims the DOJ violated the Privacy Act by releasing the text messages — reveals that Rosenstein decided to release the messages because of the likelihood that the messages would be made public by members of Congress. Page has filed a separate but similar lawsuit. “The disclosure obviously would adversely affect public confidence in the FBI, but providing the most egregious messages in one package would avoid the additional harm of prolonged selective disclosures and minimize the appearance of the Department concealing information that was embarrassing to the FBI,” wrote Rosenstein in a declaration filed with the DOJ on Friday. **Correction: Jan. 20, 2020** _The original version of this story misstated Rod Rosenstein’s actions regarding how text message conversations were released to media. 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