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Ex-FBI Lawyer to Resist Subpoena to Testify About Mueller Probe

Ex-FBI Lawyer to Resist Subpoena to Testify About Mueller Probe

(Bloomberg) -- A former FBI lawyer who has been at the center of allegations about the basis for Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian collusion in the 2016 election will not appear before congressional investigators despite a subpoena, her lawyer said on Tuesday night.

Lisa Page, was to be questioned in private by congressional investigators Wednesday, a day before bureau agent Peter Strzok is to testify publicly about the beginnings of the government’s Russia inquiry.

Page’s lawyer, Amy Jeffress, said in a statement that the House committees involved in the questioning did not "respond to our requests to explain the scope of the interview and provide sufficient notice to allow her to prepare." She also said the FBI hadn’t given Page access to her own notes, and other information that the Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform committees have, and seek to question her about.

A request to reschedule the session with the committees to give Page more time was refused, according to Jeffress. "As a result, Lisa is not going to appear for an interview at this time."

Ex-FBI Lawyer to Resist Subpoena to Testify About Mueller Probe

Anti-Trump messages between Page and Strzok during the 2016 presidential campaign, when they were involved romantically, have fueled accusations from President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers that the Russia probe was tainted early on by bias among some members of the FBI assigned to it.

The House Judiciary Committee chairman, Bob Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican, said in a statement that the committee would "use all tools at our disposal to obtain her testimony."

He added that Page had known for months his committee would be seeking her testimony as part of its investigation and "she has no excuse for her failure to appear."

"It appears that Lisa Page has something to hide," Goodlatte said.

Page, who served as an FBI lawyer and close adviser to former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, resigned from the bureau in May. Mueller removed Strzok from his team pursuing Russian meddling, and whether anyone close to Trump colluded in it, after he learned of the anti-Trump texts.

To contact the reporter on this story: Billy House in Washington at bhouse5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kevin Whitelaw at kwhitelaw@bloomberg.net, John Harney

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