Lisa Page says DOJ 'betrayed' her and lover Peter Strzok by releasing their text messages

Former FBI attorney Lisa Page told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Tuesday night that the DOJ betrayed her and Peter Strzok — a now-fired FBI agent with whom she had an extra-marital affair — when the department released text messages between the two revealing their disdain for President Donald Trump amid a probe into the FBI's now-confirmed abuses against the 2016 Trump campaign.

What are the details?

Maddow asked Page to describe how she felt after the Justice Department released her texts to reporters. "I mean, it's, it's really one of the more painful aspects of this entire two years," Page responded. "I mean, the president's attacks and assaults are one thing but this is my institution, this is my Justice Department betraying us."

"There's a claim," Page continued, "that this is Congressional oversight and 'we had to do it.'" She dismissed that, saying, "I have been a part of both these institutions for a long time and I know what it looks like when the department is trying to protect people and protect information and I know what it looks like when they're not."

Lisa Page on treatment of public servants during impeachment inquiry: "This is not how public servants should be treated and, moreover, those institutions should be coming to their defense." pic.twitter.com/wFX3FqmfYd

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) December 18, 2019

Maddow went on to ask the longtime federal employee for her reaction to President Trump's direct pushback against other "civil servants" and government "witnesses" who testified against him during the ongoing impeachment probe.

"I mean, it's deeply unfair. We are all public servants," Page said. "This is simply not the way — even with wrongdoing, even if you think my text messages were a mistake — this is not how public servants should be treated." She added, "Moreover, those institutions should be coming to their defense." 

Lisa Page on treatment of public servants during impeachment inquiry: "This is not how public servants should be treated and, moreover, those institutions should be coming to their defense." pic.twitter.com/wFX3FqmfYd

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) December 18, 2019

Page first broke her silence to the media earlier this month, when she sat down with the Daily Beast and explained she wanted to "take [her] power back" while accusing President Trump of trying to "destroy" her life after he mocked her and Strzok's affair publicly.

In one of her July 2016 texts to Strzok, Page asked, referring to then-candidate Trump, "He's not ever going to be president, right? Right?" Strzok responded, "No. No he's not. We'll stop it."

Anything else?

Page is the former legal counsel for now-fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. She has filed a lawsuit against the bureau and the DOJ for releasing her and Strzok's text exchanges. McCabe and Strzok have also filed lawsuits against the FBI related to their terminations.