Justice Department Seeks to Block Former President Donald Trump from Being Deposed in Civil Lawsuit

In a Washington, D.C. courthouse, federal prosecutors have asked a judge to stop former President Donald Trump from being deposed later this month in a four-year-old civil lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed by two former FBI officials, Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, who were both fired during the federal probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

The Justice Department attorneys said Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar authorized an appeal to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C., unless a lower court judge reconsiders an earlier ruling allowing Trump’s deposition to take place before a deposition with FBI Director Christopher Wray.

The two former FBI officials filed the lawsuit against the Justice Department and the FBI in 2019, alleging that they were wrongfully terminated from their positions. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled in February that Trump and Wray could be deposed in the lawsuit.

The Justice Department is now seeking to stop the deposition with Donald Trump, citing the need to protect the former president from being deposed in a civil case while the Justice Department is still investigating him in a criminal case.

The appeal to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C. will be filed unless the lower court judge reconsiders the ruling allowing Trump’s deposition to take place. It is unclear when the court will make a decision on the matter.