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.
________________
POWERLINE
IN SEARCH OF LOST
TEXTS (2)
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.
