Thousands of FBI cellphones were affected by the glitch that allegedly caused the loss of five months worth of text messages between two FBI officials who privately denigrated President Trump before helping to investigate his campaign’s possible ties to the Russian election meddling, according to a report.
The missing messages are between senior FBI official Peter Strok and senior FBI lawyer Lisa Page, who both served on special council Robert Mueller's team. The DOJ reported the gap in communications were sent between Dec. 14, 2016, to May 17, 2017.
According to new information, the technical glitch affected the phones of “nearly” 10 percent of the FBI’s 35,000 employees, Fox News reported Wednesday.
Senior DOJ officials told Fox News they are "taking steps" in attempt to recover the texts from the independent cellphone carriers.
Strzok was removed from Mueller's team in August after the disparaging messages about Trump were discovered and Page had previously left the team.
The controversial loss of the messages has garnered nationwide attention and has computer forensic experts and ex-FBI experts questioning the legitimacy of the supposed loss.
“The loss of these text messages is an unbelievable coincidence — literally,” a House Intelligence Committee source told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday.
