Subpoenaed ex-FBI lawyer Lisa Page was a no-show in Congress. So too, Fox News notes, was Taylor Swift.

(Image credit: Lisa O'Connor/AFP/Getty Images)

published 12 July 2018

By Wednesday evening, House Republicans were threatening to hold former FBI lawyer Lisa Page in contempt of Congress for failing to show up to an interview with the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees, despite a subpoena. President Trump, apparently watching Fox News in Brussels, noticed, tweeting: "As I head out to a very important NATO meeting, I see that FBI Lover/Agent Lisa Page is dodging a Subpoena & is refusing to show up and testify. ... Where is the Attorney General? @FoxNews."

On Fox News, House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) said he and his colleagues had given Page two new options to comply with the subpoena: Testify publicly Thursday alongside former FBI special agent Peter Strzok, with whom she exchanged texts critical of Trump, or appear for a closed-door interview by Friday.

Page's lawyer said her client was more than willing to cooperate but "simply needs clarification of the scope of the committee's interest in interviewing her and access to relevant documents so that she can provide complete and accurate testimony." The top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, Jarrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), called the GOP's contempt threat a "charade," and former FBI official Josh Campbell told CNN that "the idea that Lisa Page has something to hide is laughable, because Congress has already released her personal text messages for all the world to see."

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Page wasn't the only woman who disappointed Congress on Thursday, Fox News reports — Taylor Swift was a no-show, too. "Swift was in town for a pair of concerts this week," including a Wednesday night show just blocks from the Capitol, and "it's not clear exactly what spark lit the fuse Wednesday," but rumors of Swift appearing on the Hill spread like wildfire, causing mass hysteria among otherwise serious people. "Until Page does come to Capitol Hill, she and Taylor Swift will have at least one thing in common," Fox News notes.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

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