Trump's allies are weaponizing new revelations about ousted Mueller investigator Peter Strzok...

[DonViejo]

Trump's allies are weaponizing new revelations about ousted Mueller investigator Peter Strzok in what experts say is a bogus ploy

Sonam Sheth

President Donald Trump's allies have embarked on a fresh wave of criticism of the FBI after the Department of Justice revealed that the bureau did not preserve text messages exchanged between two employees during a key time period in the Russia probe, according to a letter from Republican Sen. Ron Johnson to FBI director Christopher Wray.

FBI counterintelligence veteran Peter Strzok was ousted from special counsel Robert Mueller's team last July after the Department of Justice's inspector general discovered that Strzok had exchanged politically charged texts with FBI lawyer Lisa Page, with whom he was reportedly having an extramarital affair.

The DOJ is in the process of turning over the texts to congressional investigators, and it most recently handed 384 pages of texts to the committee. But Stephen Boyd, the assistant attorney general for legislative affairs, said in a January 19 letter to Johnson that due to a technical glitch, the FBI's system was not able to preserve messages between Strzok and Page that were sent between December 16, 2016 and May 17, 2017.

Johnson, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, said in his letter to Wray, which was sent on January 20, that it was "concerning" that the bureau had not retained messages sent during that time period. He said "it is apparent from other records that Mr. Strzok and Ms. Page communicated frequently about the investigation."

more
http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-allies-peter-strzok-texts-investigation-2018-1