President Donald Trump called the missing texts between FBI agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page “one of the biggest stories in a long time.”
The two FBI officials, who were romantically involved, were part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Mr. Trump and his supporters have criticized the couple, alleging texts critical of the president is proof of bias in Mr. Mueller’s investigation.
“In one of the biggest stories in a long time, the FBI now says it is missing five months worth of lovers Strzok-Page texts, perhaps 50,000 and all in prime time. Wow!” Mr. Trump tweeted Tuesday morning.
In one text, Mr. Strzok referred to Mr. Trump as “an idiot” and cryptically talked about having an insurance policy in case he was elected.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions revealed Monday night that the couple exchanged more than 50,000 texts. But that number might be much higher because the FBI failed to preserve five months of texts between Mr. Strzok and Ms. Page.
“We will leave no stone unturned to confirm with certainty why these text messages are not now available to be produced and will use every technology available to determine whether the missing messages are recoverable from another source,” Mr. Sessions said. “If we are successful, we will update the congressional committees immediately.”
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The missing texts range between Dec. 14, 2016, and May 17, 2017, Mr. Sessions said. That spans a critical period between the start of Mr. Trump’s transition into the White House and the start of the Mueller investigation.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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