UNITED STATES—Robert Mueller, who was picked as the Special Counsel to head the Russia investigation against current President Donald J. Trump, is suspected to have erased important data that was to be reviewed by an inspector from the United States Department of Justice.
According to the U.S. DOJ, Mueller’s office was in possession of more than 30 cell phones, which contained data that would have to be reviewed by the Inspector General. The data on the phones allegedly went missing.
The inspector general discovered that the phones were either reset to factory settings, erased “accidentally” (after the password was entered too many times), while some of the phones were simply “reassigned” for reasons that are still unknown.
According to the DOJ records, a phone used by assistant special counsel James Quarles, was “wiped itself without intervention from him.” Top prosecutor, Andrew Weissman, “accidentally wiped” his cell phone, which caused data to be lost.
Three other prosecutors also erased their data, but the Inspector General has not determined if it was done by accident or not.
Another phone, which was owned by FBI lawyer, Lisa Page, was conspicuously misplaced by the counsel’s office, but recovered by the Inspector General. The phone had already been restored to its factory settings with no information found.
A phone by FBI agent, Peter Strzok was confiscated by the inspector general, but found “no substantive texts, notes or reminders.”
Mueller, who was also former head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), serving under President George W. Bush, found no evidence of collusion between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, or obstruction of justice during his investigation. He did discover evidence of election interference from the Russian government during the 2016 Presidential election.
