The DOJ has obtained a new batch of text messages between Trump-hating FBI agent Peter Strzok and his mistress Bureau lawyer, Lisa Page.
The new text messages suggest the agents may have improperly leaked information to the press, sparking a Congressional probe.
John Solomon of The Hill reported:
In one exchange, FBI counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok and bureau lawyer Lisa Page engaged in a series of texts shortly before Election Day 2016 suggesting they knew in advance about an article in The Wall Street Journal and would need to feign stumbling onto the story so it could be shared with colleagues.
“Article is out, but hidden behind paywall so can’t read it,” Page texted Strzok on Oct. 24, 2016.
“Wsj? Boy that was fast,” Strzok texted back, using the initials of the famed financial newspaper. “Should I ‘find’ it and tell the team?”
The text messages, which were reviewed by The Hill, show the two FBI agents discussed how they might make it appear they innocently discovered the article, such as through Google News alerts.
“I can get it like I do every other article that hits any Google News alerts, seriously,” Strzok wrote, adding he didn’t want his team hearing about the article “from someone else.”
John Solomon reports The Hill has reviewed approximately three dozen text messages between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page in which they discussed articles and the leaked information in specific published stories.
The Justice Department Inspector General is currently investigating the FBI agents’ media contacts. Agents’ media contacts aren’t necessarily improper unless they leak confidential or classified information such as the leak last February of an intercept of then-national security adviser Michael Flynn’s contacts with the Russian ambassador to the U.S, John Solomon notes.
The House Intelligence Community is also investigating Robert Mueller’s “pit bull” Andrew Weissmann for his contact with the media last April, according to the report.
Sara Carter also reported on a text exchange between Strzok and Page involving a potential leak to WaPo:
One of the text messages the congressional committees are interested in involves Strzok and Page discussing a story published in the Washington Post.
On Nov. 3, 2016, just days before the election, Page texted Strzok, and mentions a call she had with FBI Chief of Staff James Rybicki.
“Sorry Rybicki called,” Page states. “Time line article in the post is super specific and not good. Doesn’t make sense because I didn’t have specific information to give.”
Strzok, responds, “what post article?”
Page then states, “just went up. WaPo.” Page apparently was referencing an article in the Washington Post.
President of Judicial Watch Tom Fitton said of the investigation into FBI agents’ leaks to the media, “No wonder Mueller covered up the removal of FBI anti-@RealDonaldTrump-er for months. FBI agents’ text messages spur congressional probe into possible news leaks”
No wonder Mueller covered up the removal of FBI anti-@RealDonaldTrump-er for months. FBI agents’ text messages spur congressional probe into possible news leaks https://t.co/zsHDKGuKVV
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) January 9, 2018
