Search For Missing FBI Text Messages In Russia Probe Shows Need To Preserve Data - Report

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th December, 2018) The FBI lacks a formal policy requiring the preservation of text messages on government-issued cell phones, the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (OIG) said on Thursday in a report detailing efforts to recover missing messages between agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page during the investigation of Russia's role in the 2016 US presidential election.

"The OIG determined that the FBI does not currently have a specific policy directive mandating that FBI, through ESOC [Enterprise Security Operations Center] or otherwise, collect text messages sent and received by FBI employees using their FBI issued mobile devices," the report saod. "Separate from this report, the OIG will be submitting procedural reform recommendations to the FBI relating to retention of electronic communications."

Strzok and Page were removed from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe in the summer of 2017 because they had exchanged text messages hostile to then-candidate Donald Trump and appeared to discuss possible ways to prevent Trump from becoming president.

Thursday's report dealt with attempts to recover text messages between Strzok and Page that went missing during a 5-month period from December 15 2016 to May 17, 2017. The Mueller investigation began in May. Strzok and Page were dismissed from the Mueller team in July.

The OIG report said the FBI recovered and conducted forensic examinations of four cell phones used by the two� special counsel investigators in an attempt to find the missing messages.

"The result of these steps was the recovery of thousands of text messages within the period of the missing text messages... as well as hundreds of other text messages outside the gap lime period that had not been produced by the FBI due to technical problems with its text message collection tool," the report said.

Software designed to save text messages on samsung Galaxy S-5 and S-7 phones used by Strzok and Page resulted in many of the messages being lost because the software often failed to work, the report said.

The report made clear, however, that the FBI did not engage in a deliberate attempt to destroy the evidence.

�Mueller is investigating allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 US election. Russia has repeatedly denied the allegations, calling them politically motivated, unsubstantiated and absurd.