Newly released Department of Justice documents revealed that a number of investigators on former special counsel Robert Mueller’s team “accidentally wiped” their phones of vital information.
Newly released DOJ records show that multiple top members of Mueller’s investigative team claimed to have “accidentally wiped” at least 15 (!) phones used during the anti-Trump investigation after the DOJ OIG asked for the devies to be handed over. https://t.co/VVUnfZVolm pic.twitter.com/p50PnoCBse
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) September 10, 2020
Andrew Weissmann, a manager on the Mueller team, reported that two of his special counsel’s office phones were wiped—one by accident, and another by entering the wrong password too many times, according to the documents.
“Wiped phone due to attempting the incorrect password to [sic] many times, believed had less than 10 text messages, and 5 photos of non-investigative or informational significance,” read one entry for assistant special counsel Greg Andres.
Another entry for Kyle Freeny, a former prosecutor on the team, read: “Phone was accidentally wiped prior to records review.”
At least 15 other phones were similarly wiped of information before their review by the DOJ, according to the Federalist’s Sean Davis.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, sent a letter to the DOJ after the 87-page document drop and demanded to know what was being done to recover the material that had been deleted from these mobile devices.
He pointed out that many of these devices were not wiped until the DOJ inspector general began his inquiry into the origins of the Mueller investigation, which raised questions about the timing.
“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,” Grassley wrote.
“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.”
