Congressional Republicans are demanding to know if there “was a widespread intentional effort” to wipe the mobile devices of people on former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team during the Russia probe.
These accusations come after newly released records from the Justice Department show several dozen of the team member’s phones were wiped of information due to forgotten passcodes, irreparable screen damage, intentional deletion, or other reasons. All of the phones were wiped before the Justice Department inspector general’s office could review the devices.
Senator Chuck Grassley sent a letter to Attorney General Bill Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray asking if there were any actions that could be taken to recover any information deleted from the mobile devices.
Grassley wrote in the letter, “It appears that Special Counsel Mueller’s team may have deleted federal records that could be key to better understanding their decision-making process as they pursued their investigation and wrote their report. Indeed, many officials apparently deleted the records after the DOJ Inspector General began his inquiry into how the Department mishandled Crossfire Hurricane.”
The Senator added that “based on this new information, the number of times and the stated reasons for the deletions calls into question whether or not it was a widespread intentional effort.”
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham slammed Mueller’s team saying, “If you can’t manage your own phone, why should we trust you to investigate a crime?”
“The question is, did they obstruct justice, did they intentionally delete information from their phone because [Inspector General Michael] Horowitz was on the case?” Graham asked.
The Chairman said the question should be considered by U.S. Attorney for Connecticut John Durham since he is currently investigating the source of the Russia probe.
Senator Ron Johnson is also “outraged by it” and wants answers.
I’m not a lawyer,” Johnson said to Fox News, “but I am aware of the concept of anticipatory obstruction of justice.” He argues that the action of “accidentally wiping a phone because you entered the wrong password too many times” makes him “highly skeptical,” and more than a dozen people making “the same mistake is completely unbelievable.”
Johnson added that he requested a phone call with the FBI Director and said, “This needs to be fully investigated.”
House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes joked that the deleted information was an “amazing coincidence.”
Nunes told Fox News, “You’d think these people could come up with a more believable excuse for hiding evidence.”
