Did you know Actor Samuel Jackson was convicted of a felony for unlawful confinement of Rev. MLK Sr.?

In 1969, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr. was held hostage by Samuel L. Jackson and several other Morehouse College students on the school campus.  

Jackson was charged with and eventually convicted of unlawful confinement, a second-degree felony, then suspended for two years.

He would later return to the college to earn his Bachelor of Arts in Drama in 1972.

See this synopsis on Facebook.

IN THE HOUR OF CHAOS is a 2016 American documentary drama written and directed by Bayer Mack, which tells the story of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr. (“Daddy King”) who rose from an impoverished childhood in the violent backwoods of Georgia to become patriarch of one of the most famous – and tragedy-plagued – families in history.

Stream our MLK family documentary at:

 www.IntheHourofChaos.com

_______________

A POSITIVE BLACK SPORT STORY

Madison Keys cruising through top half of draw

By Editorial Team

 Photo: Getty Images 

Madison Keys' off-season training in Florida at the new USTA Training Facility has been paying huge dividends as she is cruising through the draw with a 6-0, 6-1 win over E. Alexandrova in the second round. Today was a huge day for Madison, not only did she win in less than 90 minutes, her biggest threat - Muguruza - fell straight sets to Hsieh in the second round.

This leaves a huge door of opportunity open for Madison. If she can dodge the heat with short matches with her power baseline game big things are headed her way. If the draw plays out she could face Simona Halep in the semifinals. We can't grant her the title yet as its inevitable that she will be tested with longer matches and there will be days where her power game generates more errors than winners. However, the law of averages are on Madison's side as she makes a push toward the first title of her career. 

For more up-to-the-minute updates, news, stories and events in your community and abroad please subscribe today.

  

Black Tennis Magazine | News & Media

www.blacktennismagazine.com

The Official Site for Black Tennis Magazine Founded in 1977 by Marcus A. Freeman Jr. The most circulated black tennis news magazine in history.

Trump Triumphs At Davos World Economic Forum And The US Economy Continues To Soar

AMERICA OPEN FOR BUSINESS
DONALD DOES DAVOS

President Trump Addresses the World Economic Forum

Click Here To View The Video

DOW SETS ANOTHER RECORD...
STOCKS +44% SINCE ELECTION... 

__________________

Tax Reform: FedEx Announces $3.2 Billion Investment Plan, Insurance Giant Rolls Out Bonuses and New Benefits

By Guy Benson

If it feels like we've been reporting new, positive pieces of tax reform news virtually every day, that's because we have.  One company after another has been running the math on how the GOP tax law -- opposed by literally every Democrat in Congress -- benefits them, and are moving accordingly to reinvest significant portions of their fresh windfalls into their employees and business plans. 

The result has been millions of American workers experiencing bonuses, wage increases, and enhanced benefits, in addition to expanded operations, new job creation, and hefty corporate charitable contributions.  Another titan of American business has now unveiled its tax reform-fueled investments:

#BreakingNews: @FedEx announces more than $3.2B in wage increases, bonuses pic.twitter.com/z4Ow44gzI9

— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) January 26, 2018

Details, via Reuters:

Package delivery company FedEx Corp said on Friday it will spend more than $3.2 billion on wage increases, bonuses, pension funding and capital investment, taking advantage of the U.S. tax overhaul signed into law in December...The Memphis, Tennessee-based company said it would invest $1.5 billion to significantly expand its hub in Indianapolis over the next seven years and modernize and enlarge its Memphis SuperHub.

The new tax code allows companies to immediately write off the full value of capital costs, which helps make projects more financially attractive...

FedEx, which said the recent tax changes would likely boost economic growth and investment in the United States, also said it would contribute $1.5 billion to an employee pension plan. The company plans more than $200 million in higher compensation, about two-thirds of which will go to hourly employees with the remainder funding increases in performance-based incentive plans for salaried workers.

Bonuses, wage boosts, operational expansion, and more generous benefits.  Here is FedEx's formal announcement. The company employs roughly 400,000 people worldwide.  Over in another sector of the US economy, American Family Insurance has announced its contributions to the ongoing tax reform bonanza.  Congratulations, AFI workers:

The company will use the tax reform to enhance employee benefits and reinforce the company’s commitment to its people for putting customers first and remaining an employer of choice.

In the longer term, customers are expected to benefit, too, with the tax savings impacting pricing. Among the new benefits is a $1,000 one-time bonus for 11,000 employees, excluding officers and the board of directors, at American Family. This bonus is made possible because of the reduction of the federal corporate tax rate in 2018.

The company’s independent contractor agents will also have the opportunity to earn a higher incentive for strong customer satisfaction...Enhanced benefits also extend directly to nonprofits that support communities.

In 2018, American Family will contribute $10 million to its Dreams Foundation which supports programs and provides grants to nonprofits...

Along with these one-time enhancements, the company is making permanent changes to its benefits program – many of the updates are focused on supporting employee education...

Also new, the company’s family leave program will now provide American Family employees with paid leave to care for an ill child of any age or for a spouse or domestic partner. This is in addition to family leave to care for aging parents and the birth or adoption of a child.

It's not just a one-off bonus.  It's stepped-up philanthropy and permanent improvements to employee benefits programs.  Even as these "crumbs" pile up into mountains, positively influencing public opinion along the way, this is an important warning for Republicans to keep in mind:

Last 6 weeks, Congressional Leadership Fund surveyed 69 congressional districts. The tax bill is underwater in 52 districts, and in 50, a plurality of voters believe the tax bill will increase their taxes.

— Alex Rogers (@arogDC) January 25, 2018

There's still an enormous amount of disinformation in the bloodstream about this law, and those myths must be actively tackled and dispelled.

Headlines about the Fed Ex and American Family Insurance developments must be trumpted far and wide.

The drumbeat will not sustain itself, even if the material is there.

And yes, people personally experiencing higher take-home pay due to tax cuts kicking in for 80 percent of Americans will also help matters.

But people have to be reminded of what caused that outcome, especially since majorities do not believe they're going to receive a tax cut from the GOP-passed law. 

They will, no thanks to Democrats, whose lies and fear-mongering should be highlighted and punished.

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2018/01/26/fed-ex-tax-reform-n2440247?utm_source=thdailypm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl_pm&newsletterad=

                     __________________

Conservative Heritage Foundation Rates Trump’s First Year Better Than Reagan’s

By Jim Hoft

News Flash to Conservatives in the Republican Party – According to the Heritage Foundation President Trump did an amazing job in his first year in office – even better than conservative and American icon President Ronald Reagan!

The New York Times reported that the conservative Heritage Foundation ranks President Trump as doing even better than conservative icon President Ronald Reagan in the first year of his Presidency.

The Trump administration has pursued policies that have hewed remarkably close to the recommendations of a leading conservative think tank, the Heritage Foundation, which found in a new review that nearly two-thirds of its ideas had been carried out or embraced by the White House over the past year.

Not one to dwell on the details of governing, President Trump has shown a considerable degree of deference to groups within the conservative movement like Heritage, leading to a rightward shift in social, environmental, immigration and foreign policy.

The results, Heritage found in its review, exceeded even the first year of Ronald Reagan’s presidency, whose tenure has long been the conservative gold standard.”

The Times continued that as the horrible Obama years came to an end –

Heritage began developing in 2016 a list of 334 policy prescriptions that a new Republican administration could adopt. 

It included a variety of actions, like reimposing work requirements for welfare recipients, ending the program that shields young immigrants brought here illegally as children, withdrawing from the Paris climate accord and eliminating certain gender identity protections.

Heritage said that 64 percent of those items were enacted by the administration either through executive order or another means of enforcement, or included in Mr. Trump’s budget, which has not been voted on by Congress.

In Reagan’s first year, only 49 percent of Heritage’s wish list items were embraced by the president or enacted. 

At the time, Heritage identified a familiar problem for why the administration’s policies were wanting. In almost every federal agency, Heritage said in November 1981, “delayed appointments, unqualified or misqualified appointments, or the appointment of individuals who are not committed to the President’s goals and policies” had delayed or thwarted policy changes.”

President Trump incurred his fair share of challenges during his first year but his results were historic.

It’s time for all conservatives and freedom fighters in the US to get behind this President who stands tall in the face of unjust and slanderous attacks from all sides.  President Trump is Making America Great Again!

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/01/conservative-heritage-foundation-rates-trumps-first-year-better-reagans/

As walls close in on FBI, the bureau lashes out at its antagonists

By Sharyl Attkisson 

What happens when federal agencies accused of possible wrongdoing — also control the alleged evidence against them? 

What happens when they’re the ones in charge of who inside their agencies — or connected to them — ultimately gets investigated and possibly charged?

Those questions are moving to the forefront as the facts play out in the investigations into our intelligence agencies’ surveillance activities.

There are two overarching issues.

First, there’s the alleged improper use of politically-funded opposition research to justify secret warrants to spy on U.S. citizens for political purposes.

Second, if corruption is ultimately identified at high levels in our intel agencies, it would necessitate a re-examination of every case and issue the officials touched over the past decade — or two — under administrations of both parties.

This is why I think the concerns transcend typical party politics.

It touches everybody. It’s potentially monumental.

This week, the FBI said it was unfair for the House Intelligence Committee not to provide its memo outlining alleged FBI abuses. The committee wrote the summary memo after reviewing classified government documents in the Trump-Russia probe.

The FBI’s complaint carries a note of irony considering that the agency has notoriously stonewalled Congress. 

Even when finally agreeing to provide requested documents, the Department of Justice uses the documents’ classified nature to severely restrict who can see them — even among members of Congress who possess the appropriate security clearance. 

Members who wish to view the documents must report to special locations during prescribed hours in the presence of Department of Justice minders who supervise them as they’re permitted to take handwritten notes only (you know, like the 1960s).

What most people don’t know is that the FBI and Department of Justice already know exactly what Congressional investigators have flagged in the documents they’ve reviewed, because three weeks ago the Senate Judiciary Committee sent its own summary memo to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Department of Justice Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. 

The committee also referred to the Department of Justice a recommendation for possible charges against the author of the political opposition research file, the so-called “Trump dossier”: Christopher Steele.

The head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Republican Charles Grassley co-authored the memo with fellow Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham. Grassley says it’s important for the public to see the unclassified portions of the memo.

But unlike the House, which can release the memo on its own (and is taking steps to do so), Senate rules require permission from the Department of Justice — the possibly offending agency — approve or declassify the memo. And that’s reached a snag.

According to Grassley, the FBI is blocking the release of the unclassified sections of the Senate memo by falsely claiming that they contain classified information.

“It sure looks like a bureaucratic game of hide the ball, rather than a genuine concern about national security,” said Grassley in a speech on the Senate floor yesterday.

Grassley also pointed out that agencies accused of possible improprieties are the ones controlling the information. 

It’s the FBI who may have misused the unverified “dossier” opposition research, allegedly presenting it to a secret court as if it were verified intelligence.

“[FBI] Director [James] Comey testified in 2017 that it was ‘salacious and unverified’,” said Grassley. “So, it was a collection of unverified opposition research funded by a political opponent in an election year. Would it be proper for the Obama administration — or any administration — to use something like that to authorize further investigation that intrudes on the privacy of people associated with its political opponents? That should bother civil libertarians of any political stripe.”

Democrats and many in the media are taking the side of the intelligence community, calling the Republican efforts partisan. House Democrats are said to be writing a counter-memo.

“We need to produce our own memo that lays out the actual facts and shows how the majority memo distorts the work of the FBI and the Department of Justice,” said Rep. Adam Schiff, the lead Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.

Meantime, the Department of Justice has officially warned the House Intelligence Committee not to release its memo. It's like the possible defendant in a criminal trial threatening prosecutors for having the audacity to reveal alleged evidence to the judge and jury.

This is the first time I can recall open government groups and many reporters joining in the argument to keep the information secret. 

They are strangely uncurious about alleged improprieties with implications of the worst kind: Stasi-like tactics used against Americans. “Don’t be irresponsible and reveal sources and methods,” they plead.

As for me? I don’t care what political stripes the alleged offenders wear or whose side they’re on. If their sources and methods are inappropriate, they should be fully exposed and stopped.

Sharyl Attkisson (@SharylAttkisson) is an Emmy-award winning investigative journalist, author of The New York Times bestsellers “The Smear” and “Stonewalled,” and host of Sinclair’s Sunday TV program “Full Measure.”

http://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/370717-as-walls-close-in-on-fbi-the-bureau-lashes-out-at-its-antagonists

Not Lost: DOJ Has Found the "Missing" Text Messages Between FBI Agents Strzok and Page

By Katie Pavlich

The so-called "lost" text messages between FBI agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, covering the time period between December 2016 and May 2017, aren't missing after all. 

Strzok and Page both served on the Special Counsel led by Robert Mueller, but were dismissed when a series of anti-Trump and pro-Hillary text messages between them were revealed by the Inspector General.

When the FBI claimed over the weekend the messages could not be located due to a computer glitch that failed to backup the data, Attorney General Jeff Sessions vowed to get to the bottom of the situation.

It appears he already has. 

UPDATE: The DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz found them.

From Fox News: 

Text messages from a critical five-month period between Trump-bashing FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, who both served on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team, have been located, Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz has told Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.

Whether the messages will be released to the public is another question.

On Wednesday, government watchdog Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit against the FBI for the messages after the bureau ignored a December 2017 Freedom of Information Act request.

“I don’t believe for one minute that the Strzok-Page texts are really missing,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton released in a statement. 

“The IRS told us that Lois Lerner’s emails were ‘missing,’ and we forced them to admit they existed and deliver them to us. The State Department hid the Clinton emails but our FOIA lawsuits famously blew open that cover-up. We fully intend to get the ‘missing’ Strzok and Page documents. And it is shameful the FBI and DOJ have been playing shell games with these smoking gun text messages. Frankly, FBI Director Wray needs to stop the stonewalling.”

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2018/01/25/not-lost-n2439716?utm_source=thdailypm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl_pm&newsletterad=

Home Depot hourly employees to receive up to $1,000 bonus due to tax reform

By Lauren Thomas | CNBC News

Getty Images:  A Home Depot store in Miami, Florida.

• Home Depot joins a growing list of corporations using new tax benefits to invest in their workers.
• Certain additional expenses and the bonus payments will negatively impact Home Depot's fiscal 2017 earnings.
• Home Depot is still evaluating how new tax legislation will impact the business in fiscal 2018, but said it should be "beneficial."

Home Depot is awarding its hourly employees in the U.S. a one-time cash bonus of as much as $1,000 following the passage of new tax legislation.

The bonus amounts will be determined based on a person's length of service, similar to Walmart's strategy. All of Home Depot's U.S. hourly workers will get at least a $200 bonus, a spokeswoman told CNBC, and the maximum payout is $1,000 for workers who've served at least 20 years.

The sliding scale looks like this, a Home Depot employee said after attending a company meeting regarding the news: 

Less than 2 years: $200 bonus
2 to 4 years: $250 bonus
5 to 9 years: $300 bonus
10 to 14 years: $400 bonus
15 to 19 years: $750 bonus
20+ years: $1,000 bonus

Home Depot declined to comment on these amounts.

Home Depot joins a growing list of corporations, and many retailers, using new tax benefits to invest in their workers.

"This incremental investment in our associates was made possible by the new tax reform bill," Chief Executive Officer Craig Menear said in prepared remarks. "We are pleased to be able to provide this additional reward to our associates."

The home improvement retailer said the new tax law will result in added tax expenses of about $150 million in the fourth quarter, which are tied to taxes on offshore earnings. These expenses and the bonus payments will lower Home Depot's fiscal 2017 earnings by 19 cents a share, the company said.

For fiscal 2018, Home Depot is still evaluating the legislation's impact on its business, but said it should be "beneficial."

"Amid the changing retail environment," Home Depot said it plans to make more investments in its stores, workers and the customer shopping experience.

More companies, and especially retailers, face heightened pressure today to recruit the best talent as the U.S. labor market continues to tighten. Bonus payments, wage increases and other benefits can help incentivize current employees to stick around.

Home Depot will provide more details on future investments when it reports fourth-quarter earnings on Feb. 20.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/25/home-depot-to-award-hourly-employees-1000-bonus-due-to-tax-reform.html

The FBI Is Looking Guilty As Hell In Russia Probe

PHOTO (Left to Right): Former FBI Director James Comey, Former President Barack Obama and Former FBI Director Robert Mueller

Editorials

Scandal: As Special Counsel Robert Mueller's vast and fruitless investigation into supposed ties between the Trump campaign and the Russian government drags on, it's the FBI itself that appears to have been engaged in nefarious activities.

First there is the memo circulating among lawmakers on Capitol Hill regarding how the FBI went about obtaining its warrants to wiretap Trump campaign officials during the campaign.

The speculation is that the memo — drafted by the House Intelligence Committee — will confirm what many already suspect, that the FBI used a phony "dossier" — which was nothing more than a factually challenged compilation of gossip and innuendo secretly financed by the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton's campaign — to get those warrants.

To hear from House Republicans who've seen it, the memo is explosive.

"I can tell you I read it twice just to make sure I read it properly, and it was deeply disturbing," Ohio's Dave Joyce said. Mark Meadows, chair of the House Freedom Caucus, called the memo "troubling" and "shocking," adding that "part of me wishes that I didn't read it because I don't want to believe that those kinds of things could be happening in this country that I call home and love so much."

Dave Joyce said "heads absolutely should roll," and Matt Gatetz predicted that "people will go to jail" based on what's in the memo.

Democrats — and the press — are dismissing it as a political ploy to undermine Mueller's investigation and that the document is rife with errors and shouldn't be released.

We won't know whom to believe until the memo is released.

It's certainly possible that Republicans are overselling the findings in that memo — in which case they have made a huge political blunder — but if that were true, then why are Democrats opposing its release?

If it's as bad as Republicans say, what the Intelligence Committee findings mean is that the FBI used unsubstantiated politically motivated opposition research paid for by one campaign as a pretext to spy on members of another campaign.

As Glenn Greenwald of the Intercept rightly explains, "One of the gravest and most damaging abuses of state power is to misuse surveillance authorities for political purposes." (Which makes the mainstream media's utter disinterest in this story so bewildering.)

Meanwhile, the FBI claims that five months' worth of text messages sent between virulently anti-Trump FBI officials working on the Trump-Russia probe have somehow gone missing.

In a previously released batch of exchanges, FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page called Trump an "utter idiot," said that Hillary Clinton "just has to win," and talked about a mysterious "insurance policy" they had in case Trump won the election.

The two had been involved in the FBI's Trump-Russia investigation, and until these exchanges were uncovered, had served on Mueller's team.

A new batch of texts deepens the intrigue, with one mentioning a "secret society" after Trump's victory in November, and another suggesting that the FBI needed to quickly close the books on the Clinton email investigation once Trump secured the nomination.

Then there's the text where Strzok says he was conflicted about joining Mueller's team because the Russia investigation was, in his own estimation, much ado about nothing. "You and I both know the odds are nothing," he texted. "If I thought it was likely, I'd be there no question. I hesitate in part because of my gut sense and concern that there's no big there there."

But here's where things really get interesting. It turns out that the FBI can't find any of the texts the two sent each other from December 14, 2016, to May 17, 2017, which was the day Mueller was named Special Counsel. The FBI says it was due to a technical glitch. We shall see.

One way of reading all this is that, despite the obvious political biases of these officials, the FBI acted impartially when it came to investigating Trump, did everything on the up and up when it came to wiretapping his campaign, and suffered an innocent technical problem that erased exchanges between two key officials.

Another way of reading this is that corrupt FBI officials used the immense power at their disposal to illegally eavesdrop on private citizens, fuel a costly and bogus investigation into Trump — while giving Hillary Clinton a free pass on her own scandals — and then tried to keep these machinations under wraps.

We are not conspiracy-mongers here. And we, like everyone in the country, want to be able to trust that our federal law enforcement officials aren't serving as political pawns.

But the facts keep pointing to the latter interpretation.

https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/the-fbi-is-looking-guilty-as-hell-in-russia-probe/

CORRUPTION UPDATE: Did FBI Agents Create A KGB-style "Secret Society" To Destroy The Trump Presidency?

What's next in the investigation of those missing FBI texts

By Byron York

In a statement Monday, an apologetic-sounding Attorney General Jeff Sessions vowed to "leave no stone unturned" in searching for the missing texts between the FBI's Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Congressional investigators believe they are barely beginning to answer the questions raised by the text messages between the FBI's Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. 

For several reasons:

1) Strzok and Page were more prolific texters than anyone knew. In a statement late Monday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said FBI investigators have found "over 50,000 texts" in their review of Strzok-Page communications.

2) Even with all those texts, the FBI says it cannot find the couple's messages between Dec. 14, 2016, and May 17, 2017 — a critical time in the Trump-Russia affair. It's probably safe to say there is not a single Republican on Capitol Hill who does not view this as a fishy set of circumstances and does not believe Congress should step up its investigation.

3) Strzok and Page didn't just text each other on their FBI-issued Samsung phones. At times in the text exchanges that have been released, either Strzok or Page suggested that they switch over to iMessage — suggesting they might have used personal, Apple phones to communicate about FBI business in addition to their bureau-provided phones. In a letter to the Justice Department Saturday, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., asked whether the FBI had "conducted searches of Mr. Strzok's and Ms. Page's non-FBI-issued communications devices or accounts."

4) Strzok and Page emailed each other on Gmail. Johnson's letter noted a Nov. 10, 2016, text from Page to Strzok that said: "Hey without thinking I replied to the email you sent me on Gmail. But it went to your Verizon. So please clear. Let me know if you want me to send it again somewhere else." On Oct. 4, 2015, Johnson noted, Strzok texted Page to say, "It's going to be ok at work. And haven't emailed you here, although I just did on gmail." Look for Congress to get in touch with Google in an attempt to see those emails.

5) The texts are filled with cryptic messages. Strzok and Page communicated in a sort of shorthand that was heavy on gossip and filled with references to whatever was happening in the office on any particular day. Amid that, there were many passages that might refer to the presidential race and the Trump-Russia investigation. 

The latest to catch Republican eyes is the "secret society" text from the day after the 2016 election.

"There is a text exchange between these two FBI agents, these supposed-to-be fact-centric FBI agents saying, 'Perhaps this is the first meeting of the secret society,'" noted Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., on Fox News Monday night.

But nobody knows if "secret society" represents something important to the investigation or something entirely innocent. Republicans might be on to something, or they might be mistaken.

In his statement Monday, an apologetic-sounding Sessions vowed to "leave no stone unturned" in searching for the missing texts. 

The Justice Department will "use every technology available to determine whether the missing messages are recoverable from another source," Sessions said. "A review is already underway to ascertain what occurred and to determine if these records can be recovered in any other way. If any wrongdoing were to be found to have caused this gap, appropriate legal disciplinary action measures will be taken."

A skeptical and suspicious Congress is waiting to see what Sessions finds.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/byron-york-whats-next-in-the-investigation-of-those-missing-fbi-texts/article/2646770

________________

POWERLINE

IN SEARCH OF LOST TEXTS (2)

BY SCOTT JOHNSON 

Will the lost texts reveal the above as members of the "Secret Society"?

Late last week the Department of Justice advised Senator Ron Johnson that the FBI had failed to preserve five months’ worth of text messages between FBI counterintelligence officer Peter Strzok and FBI attorney Lisa Page. 

By cover letter accompanying documents submitted to Senator Johnson, the Department of Justice advised that the FBI did not preserve text messages between Ms. Page and Mr. Strzok between approximately December 14, 2016 and May 17, 2017. Keep those dates in mind.

Like Virginia, the FBI is for lovers. What a disgrace to the institution and its law enforcement mission. 

It turns out that Stzok and Page exchanged in excess of 50,000 text messages between them, and that does not include the intense five-month period that culminated in the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller to secure the removal of President Trump from office.

Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz originally turned up the notorious Strzok-Page text messages in the course of his investigation of the Department of Justice/FBI handling of the Clinton email investigation in advance of the presidential election. 

Horowitz appears to be an honest and dogged investigator, but his mission and authority are limited.

As Chairmen of the Senate’s Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees, respectively, Senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson have sought to follow up on Horowitz’s work. 

On December 6, 2017 they wrote Horowitz to ask about his discovery of the text messages. They asked Horowitz a series of questions including one directed to the discovery of the text messages.

By letter dated December 13, 2017, Horowitz responded to the questions posed by Senators Grassley and Johnson. 

This is what Horowitz said about the discovery of the text messages (emphasis added):

In gathering evidence for the [Office of Inspector General’s] ongoing 2016 election review, we requested, consistent with standard practice, that the FBI produce text messages from the FBI-issued phones of certain FBI employees involved in the Clinton e-mail investigation based on search terms we provided. 

After finding a number of politically-oriented text messages between Page and Strzok, the OIG sought from the FBI all text messages between Strzok and Page from their FBI-issued phones through November 30, 2016, which covered the entire period of the Clinton e-mail server investigation. 

The FBI produced these text messages on July 20, 2017. Following our review of those text messages, the OIG expanded our request to the FBI to include all text messages between Strzok and Page through the date of the document request, which was July 28, 2017. The OIG received these additional messages on August 10, 2017.

According to the Department of Justice cover letter sent to Senator Johnson last week, however, the FBI did not preserve text messages between Strzok and Page between approximately December 14, 2016 and May 17, 2017. 

See Senator Johnson’s letter dated January 20, 2018, to FBI Director Wray that I posted here yesterday.

Horowitz’s letter, however, seems to indicate that he has in hand messages that include the period of “lost” or unpreserved messages. Whatever he has, it is crucial evidence.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/01/in-search-of-lost-texts-2.php