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Lisa Page. Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
Former FBI lawyer Lisa Page addressed on MSNBC's "'The Rachel Maddow Show" the text message exchange with ex-Bureau counterintelligence deputy head Peter Strzok on an "insurance policy" on President Trump, saying it was "an analogy."
Why it matters: The "insurance policy" private text by Strzok, released in 2017, was seen as a "smoking gun" by congressional Republicans and other conservatives who believed an "anti-Trump bias" was building in the FBI and the Department of Justice.
Context: Per the Washington Post, Strzok's full "insurance policy" message to Page stated: "I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in Andy's office — that there's no way he gets elected — but I'm afraid we can’t take that risk. It's like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before 40."
The big picture: Page became a target of Trump's attacks when he was a candidate and she was a trial attorney on then-Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe, after it emerged that she and Strzok criticized Trump in private text messages made public in 2017.
- Page's affair with Strzok was made public in 2017, after she was told by the DOJ Inspector General's office that she was under investigation for political text messages — claims she denies.
- She's suing the DOJ for violating the Privacy Act by "unlawfully" releasing her text message exchanges with Strzok.
Go deeper:
- Former FBI lawyer Lisa Page sues Justice Department
- Lisa Page says being targeted by Trump is "sickening"
- A timeline of Strzok and Page's texts
Editor's note: This article was updated with more context and background on the text messages.