Donald Trump is scheduled to be interviewed under oath in New York on Tuesday for a lawsuit related to his time as president and the termination of a Russia investigation-era FBI official.
The deposition is to be conducted by attorneys for the FBI official, Peter Strzok, and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page late in the day on Tuesday, sources familiar with Trump’s schedule say.
The deposition comes as Trump’s obligations in court continue to mount – on Tuesday he’s also attending the civil fraud trial related to his business inflating its assets. Monday, he was ordered not to disparage possible witnesses, court officers or prosecutors while facing federal criminal charges related to January 6. On Friday, jury selection will begin in the first trial of his co-defendants in the 2020 election subversion case in Georgia.
Whether the deposition of Trump would be allowed has been an issue fought in court for years, with the Justice Department under the Trump administration and even the Biden administration seeking to shield Trump from giving the testimony, citing legal protections surrounding presidents and their actions while in office.
But the federal courts in Washington, DC, ultimately sided with Strzok and Page.
The case, and Strzok and Page’s pursuit of Trump’s testimony, has tested the limits of confidentiality around the presidency.
Strzok is accusing the Justice Department of wrongfully terminating him because of Trump’s publicly stated anger toward him and the Russia investigation. He and Page are also suing over the release of their text messages to the press.
Trump is allowed to be questioned on Tuesday at the deposition for no more than two hours. A judge previously put specific parameters around the questions he can be asked. Strzok’s and Page’s attorneys are able to ask Trump about his public statements and other communications he made about the pair in 2017 and 2018.