New DOJ IG report confirms cover narrative that the FBI's text-capture system failed exactly when plot was ongoing

If you still believe the FBI is anything but totally corrupt, read on:  Over a year ago one of the few honest people in the top management of the FBI noted that the agency's "Chief of Counterintelligence," Peter Strzok, had exchanged thousands of texts with his mistress, FBI attorney Lisa Page, showing the pair were conspiring to do everything they could to ensure Trump wouldn't be elected. 

Since the canny counterintelligence chief Strzok understandably didn't want to risk his wife discovering the texts from his mistress on his personal phone, he cunningly, brilliantly only used his official, FBI-issued phone to exchange the incriminating texts.

Now the FBI had a million-dollar system that was supposed to capture all text messages sent or received on FBI-issued phones.  So Congress directed the FBI to turn over all the incriminating texts.  This happened while the thoroughly corrupt James Comey was Director.

Unbelievably, the FBI told that GOP-led committee that the expensive text-capturing system hadn't captured a single one of the texts showing the anti-Trump conspiracy.  

Even more amazing, the top brass of the Bureau claimed the text-capture system had malfunctioned exactly during the time interval demanded by congress!

What were the odds, eh citizen?

At this point half the public believes the FBI's claim that their text-capture system failed over precisely the period requested by congress.  The fact that the odds of that would be millions-to-one doesn't bother 'em, because a) they simply cannot believe the FBI would lie so brazenly; and b) to admit that the FBI lied would call a lot of other FBI claims into question.  

Honest Americans can't believe that an agency that boasts that it's the nation's top law-enforcement agency could possibly lie that brazenly. That must mean the above story above is fake, a right-wing-conspiracy tale.

Yep yep yep.  So that MUST mean the story above is right-wing nuttery.  As my liberal friend Dan says, if he didn't hear about it, it never happened.

Well take a look at this, libs: Yesterday the DoJ Inspector-general issued a comprehensive report that not only doubled down on the claim that ten-thousand texts between counterintel chief Strzok and his mistress were lost due to a technical glitch, but also revealed that government phones issued by by the FBI to Strzok and Page had been totally wiped clean after Strzok was fired from the Russia probe.

Strzok and Page would have gotten away without anyone being able to prove anything, but for the help of outside tech experts--from the Department of Defense, which is probably the only government agency that's at least somewhat uncorrupt.  The DoD guys were able to uncover over ten-thousand text messages exchanged by Strzok and Page via their FBI-issued phones between December 15, 2016 through May 17, 2017.

Moreover, the DoD techs recovered hundreds of other text messages outside the time period of the alleged malfunction that the FBI had refused to turn over to congress.  

Are you shocked?

In one text message a distraught Page agonized to Strzok that Trump just might conceivably win the election.  'He's not ever going to become president, right? Right?'"  Srzok's reply--just minutes later--was not initially turned over by the FBI to the IG but was recovered by the watchdog after DoD help -- assured Page that Trump would not become president because "We'll stop it."

But again, even though Strzok's totally damning reply was sent just minutes after Page's question, the FBI didn't turn it over to congress or the IG.

I'm...shocked.  It was probably that amazingly selective text-capture-glitch again.

Similarly, the IG's investigators were told that the special counsel's office was simply "unable to locate the iPhone previously assigned to Page, which had been returned to DOJ's Justice Management Division (JMD)" after she left the Mueller team on July 15, 2017. Page resigned from the FBI entirely on May 4, 2018.

More than a year later, in September 2018, the JMD said it had found Page's iPhone and turned it over to the IG. But, like Strzok's phone, "Page's iPhone had been reset to factory settings on July 31, 2017," even though it had not been reassigned to a new FBI official.

"Neither [Mueller's office] nor JMD's Office of the Chief Information Officer had records reflecting who handled the device or who reset it after Page turned in her iPhone on July 14, 2017," the IG reported.

Senior DOJ leaders told the IG that it is routine practice to reset iPhones before they are reassinged to new users, and after a forensic review, the IG could not find "any data related to Page's use of the device" on the wiped phone.

Unlike with Strzok's phone, the records officer on Mueller's team stated that "she did not receive the phone following Page's departure from the [special counsel's office] and therefore she did not review Page's iPhone for records that would possibly need to be retained prior to the phone having been reset."

While the FBI maintains a system to wirelessly collect text messages sent to, or received by, FBI-issued mobile devices, the IG found that the system had "failed systemically while Strzok and Page were texting."

"Approximately 9,311 text messages were recovered from Strzok's [phone] during the collection tool failure period," the IG wrote. "Approximately 10,760 text messages were recovered from Page's [phone] during the collection tool failure period."

But you should totally believe James Comey and the FBI, cuz, reasons.

Finally, consider this:  No low-level FBI agent would have erased texts captured by the FBI's system unless directed to do so by top leadership.  It would be a career-ending move.  Whoever erased the texts not only had to have acted under orders, but also had to believe they'd be protected from prosecution if the scheme was discovered.

This should concern you--a lot.  It suggests the entire top leadership of the FBI was corrupt.  And if you think all the bad apples have been fired, you're naive.