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A number of cell phones belonging to members of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team were “accidentally” wiped before the devices could be reviewed by the Justice Department inspector general.
That’s according to 87 pages of DOJ records released Thursday under a Freedom of Information Act request from the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch.
The records show the phones were wiped of data before the DOJ’s Office of Inspector General could review the devices because of forgotten passcodes, irreparable screen damage, loss of the device, intentional deletion or other reasons, Fox News reported.
At least 27 phones were reportedly wiped of data, with some reset to factory settings and others wiped “accidentally” after entering the wrong password too many times.
NEWS: At least 27 phones used by the Mueller team were wiped before they could be checked for records.
Some phones just wiped themselves, in other cases there was mass password amnesia that required resets.
Source ppg. 49-52: https://t.co/DUjvvVd8Ke
— Ivan Pentchoukov (@IvanPentchoukov) September 10, 2020
The phones detailing the activity of key members of the anti-Trump probe had been requested by the inspector general, The Federalist’s Sean Davis reported, after a deep dive into the documents — Davis was the first to report on the devices being wiped.
https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1304131579397189634?s=20
Turns out, Andrew Weismann, a top prosecutor on Mueller’s team, “accidentally wiped” two cell phones, according to Davis.
The documents also showed that a phone belonging to top Mueller Deputy James Quarles “wiped itself.”
Federal records show that Mueller deputy Andrew Weismann claims to have “accidentally” wiped, via wrong passwords at least 2 phones detailing his activity during the anti-Trump probe. James Quarles’ phone “wiped itself.” Greg Andre also made the same wrong password claim…
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) September 10, 2020
As Davis reported in a tweet, a key tactic used by the Mueller team was to put the phones in airplane mode, lock them, and then claim they didn’t have the password.
Other Mueller deputies involved include Kyle Freeny and Rush Atkinson:
Mueller deputy Kyle Freeny similarly claimed that his phone was accidentally wiped after too many wrong passwords were entered. Same with Mueller deputy Rush Atkinson.
At least a 12 other officials whose names are redacted also claimed to have “accidentally” nuked their phones.
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) September 10, 2020
The documents also show that the cell phone of FBI lawyer Lisa Page had been lost by the Mueller team, and when it was eventually obtained by the inspector general, it had been wiped clean of all data — reportedly two weeks after she left the team.
Page’s phone was found to be in the custody of DOJ official Christopher Greer.
https://twitter.com/IvanPentchoukov/status/1304117521612779520?s=20
Page was involved in the initial “Crossfire Hurricane” probe of the Trump campaign, and was also an early member of Mueller’s team, as was her illicit lover, Peter Strzok, the fired FBI agent she was having an affair with.
The lovers were removed from Mueller’s team after anti-Trump text messages were discovered.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., responded to a National Review article on the issue by tweeting: “If Robert Mueller had nothing to hide, why did he wipe the data from 27 phones used by his team?”
If Robert Mueller had nothing to hide, why did he wipe the data from 27 phones used by his team? https://t.co/qqvTIJMoS4
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) September 11, 2020
Richard Grenell, the former U.S. Ambassador to Germany, went even further, citing a tweet from Davis to say: “This is criminal. But in Washington, DC it’s Thursday.”
This is criminal.
But in Washington, DC it’s Thursday. https://t.co/HWy1P6wtbI
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) September 10, 2020
As for assessments of the findings, it’s fair to say that skepticism was a common theme.
Here’s a sampling of responses from Twitter:
What are the actual probabilities of more than a dozen top Mueller officials all “accidentally” nuking their phones or accidentally putting them in airplane mode, locking them, and “forgetting” their passwords so the DOJ OIG couldn’t access and examine them? Negative 100,000%?
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) September 10, 2020
Andrew Weismann wiped two of his three Special Counsel’s Office phones.
He wiped one by accident.
He wiped the other by entering the wrong password too many times.
Has anyone ever wiped their phone by accident? Asking for a friend. pic.twitter.com/MFsb4kInbB
— Ivan Pentchoukov (@IvanPentchoukov) September 10, 2020
Guarantee you that anyone who believes the Mueller team “accidentally” wiped 27 cell phones by typing in the wrong codes 10 times in a row-
also believed Jussie Smollett was attacked by MAGA hat wearers with a noose at 1am on a freezing Chicago night
— Buck Sexton (@BuckSexton) September 10, 2020
WOW:
The DOJ is now saying Robert Mueller’s team “accidentally wiped” 15 of their phones AFTER the DOJ Inspector General asked for their devices to be handed over
Why won’t Adam Schiff look into this? What were they covering up? I thought ‘No one was above the law?’
RT!
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) September 10, 2020
WOW! The Special Counsel’s office forensically wiped 31 phones used by their team before they were checked for records.
What is Robert Mueller hiding?
— thebradfordfile™ (@thebradfordfile) September 10, 2020
Hmmmm…we’ve seen this done before. Top level members of Mueller’s investigative team claim to have “accidentally wiped” at least 15 (phones used during the Trump investigation after the DOJ OIG asked for the devies to be handed over.
— Adam Housley (@adamhousley) September 10, 2020
https://twitter.com/SharylAttkisson/status/1304224795878457344?s=20
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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