On Saturday, President Trump reacted to news that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team wiped their phones clean before turning the devices over to investigators. Recently released documents suggest the Muller team engaged in massive evidence destruction while under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General.
At least 15 phones used by Mueller's team of investigators were 'accidentally' wiped clean, the new documents reveal. A key tactic used by the Mueller team to destroy the evidence was to place the phones on airplane mode, lock them, and then claim not to remember the password.
"Phone was wiped prior to review because phone was in airplane mode and the passcode was not provided -- therefore the phone had to be restored to factory settings without review," reads one entry for a phone assigned to a redacted individual.
President Trump railed against the Mueller investigation, comparing the liberal team of prosecutors to "Crooked Hillary."
ALERT: So now we find out that the entire Mueller “hit squad” illegally wiped their phones clean just prior to the investigation of them, all using the same really dumb reason for this “accident”, just like Crooked Hillary smashing her phones with a hammer, & DELETING HER EMAILS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 12, 2020
"Phone was accidentally wiped prior to records review," reads an entry for Mueller deputy Kyle Freeney.
"Phone was in airplane mode, no passcode provided, data unable to be recovered, so had to be wiped," reads another entry.
....It has now been determined that the Mueller Scam should never have been set up in the first place, there were no grounds. It was all an illegitimate Witch Hunt, & a big price must be paid. How different my life would have been if this fraud on America was never committed!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 12, 2020
All that time and money spent, and it turns out that the Mueller Investigation was a total SCAM!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 12, 2020
Senate Republicans have called on DOJ inspector general Michael Horowitz to investigate the destruction of evidence and hand over internal documents from the special counsel's investigation.
U.S. Attorney John Durham's criminal investigation into the origins of the Obama administration's phony Russia investigation recently netted its first guilty plea. Mueller lawyer Kevin Clinesmith pled guilty to felony charges related to fabricated evidence that was used to obtain a FISA warrant to spy on former Trump campaign official Carter Page.
In an interview earlier this week, Attorney General William Barr said more criminal charges could stem from U.S. Attorney John Durham's ongoing review of alleged misconduct and the origins of the Russia investigation