Prominent figures on the right are slamming former FBI lawyer Lisa Page for trying to play a victim in a recent interview with the Daily Beast ahead of the release of a Justice Department inspector general (IG) report on FBI bias in investigating President Trump’s campaign for any collusion with Russia.
Page, who as an assistant to Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe played key roles in the FBI’s investigation of Hillary Clinton’s home server and the Trump campaign, recently went public, tweeting Sunday, “I’m done being quiet,” along with a link to the interview.
The piece, written by Trump hater Molly Jong-Fast, is a sympathetic profile of Page in which the former FBI lawyer portrayed herself as a victim of Trump’s tweets and attacks.
“Honestly, his demeaning fake orgasm was really the straw that broke the camel’s back,” she said. The Daily Beast said Trump acted out an orgasm at a Minneapolis rally on October 11. (Page created her Twitter account in June, but her first tweet was on Sunday).
The piece portrayed Page as a victim, with Jong-Fast writing:
Page, 39, is thin and athletic. She speaks in an exceedingly confident, clear, and lawyerly way. But having been through the MAGA meat grinder has clearly worn her down, not unlike the other women I’ve met who’ve been subjected to the president’s abuse. She is just slightly crumbly around the edges the way the president’s other victims are.
And Page herself talked about how she felt threatened by “somebody wearing Trump gear or a MAGA hat”:
“[I]f I’m walking down the street or shopping and there’s somebody wearing Trump gear or a MAGA hat, I’ll walk the other way or try to put some distance between us because I’m not looking for conflict. Really, what I wanted most in this world is my life back.”
She claimed she did not know what the Justice Department IG’s office was referring to when it told her that she was under investigation for “political text messages,” and how she dreaded that people would find out she had an extramarital affair with her married colleague Peter Strzok.
Page, while investigating Trump, had texted Strzok things like “God Trump is a loathsome human” and “He’s awful. God, Hillary should win.” She also texted him “God, Hillary should win 100,000,000-0” and “This man cannot be president.”
After the Washington Post revealed she had an affair with Strzok, Page said, “So now I have to deal with the aftermath of having the most wrong thing I’ve ever done in my life become public.”
The left sought to compare Page to other women who “have been smeared by Trump.” New York Times and CNN contributor Wajahat Ali tweeted, “I’m glad public servants like Lisa Page are fighting back”:
I'm glad public servants like Lisa Page are fighting back. Glad to see women like her, Fiona Hill, Stormy, Marie Yovanovitch, Dr. Ford, Sally Yates & others who have been smeared by Trump refuse to be intimidated or silenced. Republicans have pissed off women at their peril.
— Wajahat "Abu Khadija" Ali (@WajahatAli) December 2, 2019
Another CNN commentator wrote that Page’s story was “infuriating and heartbreaking”:
Lisa Page tells her story to @MollyJongFast and it’s infuriating and heartbreaking. https://t.co/Z2Oig9yZhT
— jess mcintosh (@jess_mc) December 2, 2019
Neera Tanden, president of Center for American Progress, tweeted, “Lisa Page, like Ambassador Yavanovich, is another woman who was simply serving her country targeted by Trump”:
Please read this piece by the amazing @MollyJongFast. Lisa Page, like Ambassador Yavanovich, is another woman who was simply serving her country targeted by Trump. Disgusting https://t.co/GXA4nmMcfw
— Neera Tanden (@neeratanden) December 2, 2019
But Page’s speaking out did not engender sympathy on the right, with commentators calling her “home wrecker” and reminding readers of her anti-Trump text messages to Strzok while she was working on the investigation into his campaign.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) tweeted, “Let me get this straight. Page and Strzok sent texts about an ‘insurance policy’ and how they’ll ‘stop Trump’ while part of the FBI spying on Trump campaign. Now Lisa Page is blaming the President. 1 week before Horowitz’s FISA report”:
Let me get this straight.
Page and Strzok sent texts about an “insurance policy” and how they’ll “stop Trump” while part of the FBI spying on Trump campaign.
Now Lisa Page is blaming the President. 1 week before Horowitz’s FISA report.https://t.co/DqPAV4c6o3
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) December 2, 2019
Buck Sexton, radio show host and former CIA analyst, reminded readers that she and Strzok were two top FBI employees who had texted about stopping Trump from becoming president:
Would really like to know in what "context" is it not deeply alarming for two top FBI employees engaged in the investigation of a presidential candidate to text each other about his possible victory: "WE'LL STOP IT"https://t.co/huoEKfGhN0
— Buck Sexton (@BuckSexton) December 2, 2019
Daily Wire journalist Amanda Prestigiacomo scoffed at Page playing the victim, tweeting, “Lisa Page, a woman who tried to take down a duly elected president and had an affair with a married man, is a victim. And if you don’t buy into that, you’re a slut-shaming Trump cultist. Or something”:
Lisa Page, a woman who tried to take down a duly elected president and had an affair with a married man, is a victim. And if you don’t buy into that, you’re a slut-shaming Trump cultist. Or something.
— Amanda (@AmandaPresto) December 2, 2019
Commentator Todd Starnes tweeted, “Home wrecker Lisa Page lectures @realDonaldTrump on morality”:
Home wrecker Lisa Page lectures @realDonaldTrump on morality. https://t.co/ZWFmtkBFrl#ToddStarnesShow
— toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) December 2, 2019
Benjamin Weingarten, senior contributor to the Federalist, also scoffed a the idea that Page was a victim, tweeting, “Imagine thinking yourself the victim for receiving criticism in response to your engaging in conduct personal, political and professional that imperils, corrupts and undermines our system of government”:
Imagine thinking yourself the victim for receiving criticism in response to your engaging in conduct personal, political and professional that imperils, corrupts and undermines our system of government https://t.co/bUnnS90V3C
— Benjamin Weingarten (@bhweingarten) December 2, 2019
Mollie Hemingway tweeted that Page was exaggerating in saying that Trump faked an orgasm when mocking her and called the Daily Beast article a “pre-dump before the IG report”:
Anyway, as for the rest of the piece, I'm about as impressed with it as I am all of the other attempts to pre-dump before the IG report. Maybe their claims that they'll be completely exonerated for all of their actions are 100% true. But, given their track record, I'm skeptical.
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) December 2, 2019
Conservative commentator Stephen Miller tweeted that Page was taking lessons from former Rep. Katie Hill (D-CA), who resigned after it became public that she was involved in an affair with at least one staffer:
Lisa Page saw how media lionized Katie Hill and thought yep time to get in on this racket.
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) December 2, 2019
And Carmine Sabia tweeted that Page wanted readers to know “what an innocent flower she is”:
Lisa Page, the married former FBI agent who bragged about having an "insurance policy" against President Donald Trump, to her married lover Peter Strzok, wants you to know what an innocent flower she is.
— Carmine Sabia (@CarmineSabia) December 2, 2019
Washington Examiner reporter Jerry Dunleavy reminded readers that former special counsel Robert Mueller removed Page from the special counsel investigation over her text messages despite her protests that she had done nothing wrong:
A reminder that Robert Mueller removed Peter Strzok from the Special Counsel investigation because of his texts with Lisa Page https://t.co/qZ5CjUZrtf
— JERRY DUNLEAVY (@JerryDunleavy) December 2, 2019
Follow Breitbart News’s @Kristina_Wong.
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