On Thursday, the Department of Justice’s inspector general (IG) said it has recovered the missing text messages between anti-Trump FBI agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, Fox News reported.
Inspector General Michael Horowitz said his office “succeeded in using forensic tools to recover text messages from FBI devices, including text messages between Mr. Strzok and Ms. Page that were sent or received between December 14, 2016 and May 17, 2017,” in a letter to congressional committees.
“Our effort to recover any additional text messages is ongoing,” he added. “We will provide copies of the text messages that we recover from these devices to the Department so that the Department’s leadership can take any management action it deems appropriate.”
Government officials said the IG recovered the missing texts by taking possession of at least four phones belonging to Strzok and Page, Fox said.
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
As we reported earlier, Fox News’ Sean Hannity said the DOJ had started recovering some of those text messages. One report claimed a number of messages allegedly included discussions of initiating physical harm against President Trump.
According to Fox:
The missing messages have been at the center of a storm of controversy on Capitol Hill, after the DOJ notified congressional committees that there is a gap in records between Dec. 14, 2016, and May 17, 2017. Strzok and Page are under scrutiny after it was revealed that the former members of Robert Mueller’s team exchanged a series of anti-Trump texts during the presidential campaign.
The gap in records covered a crucial period, raising suspicion among GOP lawmakers about how those messages disappeared.
More than 50,000 texts were exchanged between Strzok and Page, Attorney General Jeff Sessions revealed Monday. The texts are believed to have taken place during the course of a romantic affair.
Republicans have said the texts indicate an anti-Trump bias within the FBI which could could severely hamper Robert Mueller’s investigation.
In one text exchange, Strzok and Page spoke of a “secret society” within the agency and the FBI the day after Trump’s 2016 victory, according to two lawmakers with knowledge of the messages. It’s not known if that statement was made tongue-in-cheek or if it refers to an actual cabal of rogue agents working against the president. Another message referred to an “insurance policy” against Trump.
“I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in Andy’s office — that there’s no way he gets elected — but I’m afraid we can’t take that risk. It’s like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before you’re 40…” Strzok wrote.
No doubt, more will be made known now that these messages have been discovered. Stay tuned and stock up on popcorn…
Update: Contributor Adam Taxin discusses this and the reaction to it in today’s video of the day.
Related:
- Report claims FBI agents allegedly threatened physical harm to President Trump in missing text messages
- McCarthy: ‘New FBI texts highlight a motive to conceal Obama’s involvement
- Jaw-dropping: Strzok admits in text message ‘no big there, there’ in Mueller’s Trump-Russia probe
- GoFundMe pages advocate murdering Donald Trump
- GOP Rep. on #ReleaseTheMemo: Obama’s ‘weaponization’ of DOJ, intel services, links to Benghazi, Fast and Furious, more
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