(Correction: They reported missing five months of texts, not 400 texts.)
There were disturbing revelations out of the FBI over the weekend when it was made public that the Bureau had somehow lost roughly five months of text messages between an anti-Trump investigator and a lawyer he was romantically involved with. Since then, there have been calls from Republican members of Congress for another special counsel to investigate the FBI’s shady handling of the Clinton e-mail and Russia investigations. But despite this bombshell news, the three major network news outlets (ABC, CBS, and NBC) have been dead silent.
During their Monday evening newscasts, there was not a single second dedicated to bringing up this highly damaging development. Instead of reporting on the FBI, ABC’s World News Tonight gushed about the Super Bowl, CBS Evening News reported that Minnie Mouse got her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and NBC Nightly News fawned over yet another royal wedding in the U.K.
Where the networks wanted to censor the revelations, Fox News Channel’s Special Report covered them in detail.
“Late today, Fox News obtained a statement from Attorney General Jeff Sessions confirming that two FBI officials have sent more than 50,000 text messages over a two-year period,” reported Chief Intelligence Correspondent Catherine Herridge. “The Justice Department’s internal watchdog, the Inspector General, is now investigating whether the missing records can be recovered and whether their disappearance was deliberate.”
The missing text messages between FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page (who he was cheating on his wife with), were from the crucial time period between Election Day and the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller. And as Herridge explained, that period was under intense scrutiny because the two claimed to have had some sort of anti-Trump “insurance policy”:
Look, that five-month window really covers some of the big events. One lawmaker said to me today: If Strzok and Page that this so-called “insurance policy” this is when there would be evidence that it was implemented in some way. After the president was elected, during the transition when he’s briefed on the dossier, Flynn's interview by Strzok as part of the Russia case, then the firing of Comey and the appointment of the special counsel. I mean, these are the big pillars of this investigation.
Herridge also noted that, of the messages that are still present, it was discovered that the outcome of the Clinton e-mail probe was known well in advance of her interview with FBI investigators and went right to the top of the DOJ. “Four days after [Attorney General Loretta] Lynch met with Bill Clinton on an Arizona tarmac … and a day before Hillary Clinton's FBI interview, on July 1, 2016, Strzok tells Page: ‘Timing looks like hell. Will appear to be choreographed.’ Page agreed and later replied: ‘It’s a real profile in courage. Since she knows no charges will be brought.’”
“The texts appear to undercut Comey's July 2016 claim he acted alone when recommending against criminal charges,” Herridge added.
After these revelations were made public, Ohio Republican Congressman Jim Jordan compared the FBI’s mishandling of the text messages to the mysterious disappearance of e-mails of IRS official Lois Lerner who was abusing her position to target Tea Party groups, which the liberal media shrugged at as well.
Transcript below:
Fox News Channel
Special Report
January 22, 2018
6:20:46 PM Eastern [3 minutes 26 seconds]BRET BAIER: This is a Fox News Alert. Lawmakers are going over several hundred pages of newly released texts between two former members of the team run by the special counsel investigating Russian Collusion. But getting most of the attention tonight is what they are not seeing. Here’s Chief Intelligence Correspondent Catherine Herridge. Good evening Catherine.
CATHERINE HERRIDGE: Well, good evening Bret. Late today, Fox News obtained a statement from Attorney General Jeff Sessions confirming that two FBI officials have sent more than 50,000 text messages over a two-year period. The Justice Department’s internal watchdog, the Inspector General, is now investigating whether the missing records can be recovered and whether their disappearance was deliberate.
[Cuts to video]
JIM JORDAN (R-OH): Of course we need a second special counsel to get to the bottom of all this and answer the many questions we have.
HERRIDGE: Congressional Republicans are calling out the FBI after learning five months of text messages between two key bureau officials in the Clinton e-mail and Russia investigations are missing. The text messages between FBI agent Peter Strzok and his then-mistress FBI lawyer Lisa Page range from December 2016, one month after President Trump’s election, to May, when then FBI Director James Comey was fired and Special Counsel Robert Mueller took over the Russia case.
According to this letter from Senator Ron Johnson, who chairs the Governmental Affairs Committee, the FBI blamed a technical problem for the bureau's failure to capture and preserve the records.
DAVE JOYCE: (R-OH) People need to be terminated or prosecuted because they say they lost these things but I don't think Verizon or AT&T or the phone companies have lost those records.
HERRIDGE: The nearly 400 pages of text provided to Congress suggest then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch knew the FBI would recommend against prosecution before Hillary Clinton's July 2016 FBI interview about mishandling classified information.
Four days after Lynch met with Bill Clinton on an Arizona tarmac, where they claimed to discuss grandchildren, and a day before Hillary Clinton's FBI interview, on July 1, 2016, Strzok tells Page: "Timing looks like hell. Will appear to be choreographed." Page agreed and later replied: “It’s a real profile in courage. Since she knows no charges will be brought.”
The texts appear to undercut Comey's July 2016 claim he acted alone when recommending against criminal charges.
JAMES COMEY: I have not coordinated this statement or reviewed it in any way with the Department of Justice or any other part of the government.
[Cuts back to live]
HERRIDGE: In a separate development over the weekend, the Republican chairmen of the House Intelligence, and Judiciary and Oversight committees met behind closed doors to discuss the next steps for the four-page memo that alleges government surveillance abuses during the 2016 election. A Senior Democrat says the memo omits key details and the findings are exaggerated. Bret.
BAIER: Just doing the math here, 50,000 texts over two years. That averages to 68 and a half texts per day. 68 and a half. This is in a crucial time period.
HERRIDGE: Look, that five-month window really covers some of the big events. One lawmaker said to me today: If Strzok and Page that this so-called “insurance policy” this is when there would be evidence that it was implemented in some way. After the president was elected, during the transition when he’s briefed on the dossier, Flynn's interview by Strzok as part of the Russia case, then the firing of Comey and the appointment of the special counsel. I mean, these are the big pillars of this investigation.
BAIER: Well, we’ll see if someone has the text and we’ll stay on it. Catherine, thank you.
HERRIDGE: You bet.
