IG Report: Mueller Wiped Peter Strzok’s iPhone Clean Before Giving it to Investigators

A disturbing report by the Inspector General (OIG) reveals that thousands of text messages exchanged between disgraced former FBI agent Strzok and FBI attorney Lisa Page could not be recovered after Mueller’s team wiped one or both of the phones clean before turning them over to inspectors.

“SCO’s Records Officer told the OIG that as part of the office’s records retention procedure, the officer reviewed Strzok’s DOJ issued iPhone after he returned it to the SCO and determined it contained no substantive text messages,” the watchdog report reads. As Conservative Review national security reporter Jordan Schachtel first discovered, the OIG said Strzok’s cell phone was “reset to factory settings,” deleting all data stored on the device.

The federal watchdog said in the report it found “no discernible patterns” about the content of thousands of messages the FBI was able to recover between Strzok and Page. Both have been part of Mueller’s investigation of possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Strzok and Page testified before Congress this summer, and the former FBI agent admitted that he had not turned over all of his communications with Page to the Inspector General from his personal phone, even though their recovered conversations showed the two suggesting they move to apps like iMessage or Gmail. Strzok told outgoing Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) that it is a “safe assumption” that he sent messages to Page from his personal phone that were similar in nature to the widely-publicized messages attacking Trump supporters. He told House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) that he himself determined which messages on that phone were “relevant to FBI business” that the Inspector General could review.

At that time of their exchanges, the FBI was investigating whether former secretary of state and then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton improperly used a private email account while she was Secretary of State. Strzok, a senior counterintelligence agent, was assigned to the case, as was Page. Reports claimed the two were romantically involved during this time. Strzok was ultimately fired after anti-Trump text messages between him and Page were discovered by the special counsel.

Thursday’s report said the FBI used special software to collect more than 20,000 text messages from the pair’s phones, but not all were sent between Strzok and Page. Investigators have already released some of the controversial texts, including a message from Strzok saying he would “stop” President Donald Trump from winning the election.

Missing text messages from the pair’s iPhones, though, continue to elude the FBI.

So Mueller's team wiped ALL of the data off of Peter Strzok's iPhone after determining "it contained no substantive text messages." Given what we know about Strzok, this smells like quite the coverup. Time for Congress to step in?https://t.co/mOgpBbDVO4 pic.twitter.com/9w2mEPK64C

— Jordan Schachtel (@JordanSchachtel) December 13, 2018

Hmm. Mueller’s Office reset Strzok’s iPhone and at first couldn’t locate Page’s iPhone. When they found it, that too had been reset. SCO scrubbed Strzok’s phone after he was fired because it didn’t contain any “substantive texts, notes or reminders.” Lol. https://t.co/ut5Zn6Pq0L

— Julie Kelly (@julie_kelly2) December 13, 2018

* Strzok texts he'll "stop Trump"
* Strzok texts that NYT is upset about WaPo scoop.
* Strzok texts Page re "insurance policy"
* Mueller then smashes their phones with a virtual hammer.

Go on how you're concerned about corruption, obstruction of justice, and collusion. https://t.co/6267rsEahS

— Razor (@hale_razor) December 13, 2018

Source: Breitbart