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The Trump Presidency | ||
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Burgess COMMENTARY Peter Burgess | ||
Donald Trump
Trump's 'demeaning fake orgasm' made me speak out – ex-FBI lawyer Lisa Page
Page says it’s time to ‘take my power back’ after Trump attacks
Trump pretended to have orgasm at Minnesota rally in October Trump at the rally in Minnesota in which he read messages between Page and Peter Strzok and pretended to have an orgasm. Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images Donald Trump’s “demeaning fake orgasm” was “the straw that broke the camel’s back” and made Lisa Page determined to speak out, the former FBI lawyer has said, breaking her silence in a wide-ranging interview with the Daily Beast. Page told the Beast: “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.” Page left the FBI in May 2018 amid controversy, driven by Trump, over her role in the Russia investigation and an extra-marital relationship she had with bureau agent Peter Strzok, who went on to work for special counsel Robert Mueller. Strzok was fired in August 2018. At a rally in Minnesota in October, Trump read from messages between Page and Strzok, from August 2016, three months before the election. Apparently pretending to have an orgasm, the president said: “I love you, Peter! I love you too Lisa! Lisa, I love you. Lisa, Lisa, Oh God, I love you, Lisa. “And if [Hillary Clinton] doesn’t win, Lisa, we’ve got an insurance policy, Lisa! We’ll get that son of a bitch out.” The messages between Strzok and Page were made public during Mueller’s Russia investigation. In one famous exchange, Page asked: “[Trump’s] not ever going to become president, right? Right?!” Strzok replied: “No. No he’s not. We’ll stop it.” The pro-Trump right immediately seized on the messages as evidence of supposed “deep state” bias against the president. But while the deep state conspiracy theory holds that a permanent government of bureaucrats and intelligence operatives exists to thwart Trump, one of its first proponents, former White House strategist Steve Bannon, has said on record it is “for nut cases”. Lisa Page is expected to be exonerated of acting unprofessionally or with bias against Trump. 
Lisa Page is expected to be exonerated of acting unprofessionally or with bias against Trump. Photograph: AP Being the subject of sustained presidential invective, Page said, was “almost impossible to describe. It’s like being punched in the gut. My heart drops to my stomach when I realise he has tweeted about me again. The president of the United States is calling me names to the entire world. He’s demeaning me and my career. It’s sickening.” Page, now in private practice, said she “wouldn’t even call [her experience] [post-traumatic stress disorder] because it’s not over. It’s ongoing. It’s not a historical event that is being relived. It just keeps happening.” Referring to a tweet sent by Trump four days before the interview, she said: “When Roger Stone got convicted, he asked: why isn’t Page in jail too? Not to mention, you know, his truly reprehensible, degrading stunt at his rally, in which he used my name to simulate an orgasm. “And I don’t ever know when the president’s going to attack next. And when it happens, it can still sort of upend my day. You don’t really get used to it.” Like most of Washington – and the president – Page is now awaiting the publication on 9 December of a report by the justice department inspector general into Trump’s claim that the FBI spied on his 2016 campaign. Page is expected to be exonerated of acting unprofessionally or with bias against Trump. Of the political views she exchanged with Strzok, she told the Beast “having an opinion and sharing that opinion publicly or privately with another person is squarely within the permissible bounds” of regulations covering political activity by federal employees. The Department of Justice was roundly criticised for releasing Page and Strzok’s messages to the press. Page said it was “very painful to see to places like the FBI and the Department of Justice that represent so much of what is excellent about this country, not fulfilling the critical obligation that they have to speak truth to power”. She added: “It’s crushing to see the noble justice department, my justice department, the place I grew up in, feel like it’s abandoned its principles of truth and independence.” ------------------------------------------------------------ $291,235 contributed $1,500,000 our goal 2020 will be... … a defining year. These are perilous times. And we're asking for your help as we prepare for 2020. Over the last three years, much of what the Guardian holds dear has been threatened - democracy, civility, truth. This US administration is establishing new norms of behaviour. Anger and cruelty disfigure public discourse and lying is commonplace. Truth is being chased away. But with your help we can continue to put it center stage. Rampant disinformation, partisan news sources and social media's tsunami of fake news is no basis on which to inform the American public in 2020. The need for a robust, independent press has never been greater, and with your help we can continue to provide fact-based reporting that offers public scrutiny and oversight. We are also committed to keeping our journalism open and accessible to everyone and with your help we can keep it that way. 'Next year America faces an epic choice - and the result could define the country for a generation. It is at a tipping point, finely balanced between truth and lies, hope and hate, civility and nastiness. Many vital aspects of American public life are in play - the Supreme Court, abortion rights, climate policy, wealth inequality, Big Tech and much more. The stakes could hardly be higher. As that choice nears, the Guardian, as it has done for 200 years, and with your continued support, will continue to argue for the values we hold dear - facts, science, diversity, equality and fairness.' – US editor, John Mulholland On the occasion of its 100th birthday in 1921 the editor of the Guardian said, 'Perhaps the chief virtue of a newspaper is its independence. It should have a soul of its own.' That is more true than ever. Freed from the influence of an owner or shareholders the Guardian's robust independence is our unique driving force and guiding principle. We also want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported the Guardian in 2019. You provide us with the motivation and financial support to keep doing what we do. We hope to surpass our goal by early January. Every contribution, big or small, will help us reach it. Make a year-end gift from as little as $1. Thank you. ------------------------------------------------------------ Impeachment inquiry: Trump and his lawyers refuse to attend 'unfair' hearing Read more Stephen Miller blamed impeachment on Deep State – Bannon says that’s for ‘nut cases’ Read more
Martin Pengelly in New York
@MartinPengelly
| Mon 2 Dec 2019 08.44 ESTFirst published on Mon 2 Dec 2019 08.35 EST The text being discussed is available at | https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/02/trump-lisa-page-fake-orgasm-fbi-russia-investigation and |