‘Missing’ FBI text messages include threats of violence against Trump
Sources who claim access to classified material within the U.S. government — a/k/a the Deep State or the Secret Society — intimated to former intelligence and law enforcement partners and colleagues that a high level FBI special agent urged the Department of Homeland Security to launch a criminal investigation into the FBI and the Justice Department hierarchies.
He or she asked for the DHS to specifically concentrate on the threatening, violent messages sent between federal law enforcement officials such as FBI Special Agent Peter Strzok and his lover, an FBI attorney.
“This is dangerous territory and all FBI text messages and personal phones should be examined,” the FBI official allegedly told fellow federal cops. “It would reveal some frightening conversations,” he added.
The inside FBI source allegedly told his fellow federal cops that many of the messages merely discussed harming Trump politically, but that some “go deeper” and that, “This is much larger than just texts between two FBI agents.”
The notion of the deep state taking action to physically remove Trump from office is not far flung conspiracy theory. For example, during an appearance on CNN, counterterrorism analyst and former CIA agent Philip Mudd said on air “the government’s gonna kill” Donald Trump because he disrespected the deep state.
In comments made during the Aspen Security Forum, former CIA Director John Brennan also said that if the White House tries to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, executive branch officials should “refuse to carry out” that order, which is effectively a call for a coup.
The FBI official also expressed incredulity at the notion that messages can just vanish, remarking,”Text messages just don’t disappear. Not here. Someone outside DOJ has to look at all emails and texts. These (FBI bosses) are bad people. You’ve only scratched the surface.”
Five months of text messages between senior counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok and FBI attorney Lisa Page were confirmed missing over the weekend, leading some Republicans to allege that the FBI has been engaged in a cover-up of its anti-Trump bias.
In one message that was leaked, Strzok and Page along with Deputy FBI Director Andy McCabe discussed an “insurance policy” in case Donald Trump won the presidential election.
Separately, an FBI informant told Congress that a secret society within the FBI, which met the day after Trump’s election to plot his downfall, went on to hold clandestine meetings off-site.
“That secret society — we have an informant that’s talking about a group that were holding secret meetings off-site,” Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) told Fox News last night. “There is so much smoke here.”
“We have to dig into it — this is not a distraction. Again, this is bias — potentially corruption — at the highest levels of the FBI,” Johnson added.
WASHINGTON, DC 20510-6250
July 6, 2017
The Honorable Jeff Sessions
Attorney General
Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530-0001
Dear Attorney General Sessions:
On June 13, 2017, you testified before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that the Department of Justice has opened investigations into recent unauthorized disclosures of sensitive matters that are “extraordinarily damaging to the United States security.” I The majority staff of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs has been examining the recent, seemingly unprecedented rate of disclosures of information that could potentially be harmful to national security. In light of the Department’s ongoing investigations, I write to make the Department aware of the results of this examination.
This examination explored what The New York Times called the “staggering number of leaks from sources across the federal government” since President Trump’s inauguration. Using Executive Order 13526 as a basis for determining the information that could be harmful to national security, the inquiry scoured anonymously-sourced, publicly-available news articles published between January 20, 2017, and May 25, 2017. The examination found:
- Since President Trump took office, there have been at least 125 separate leaks of information potentially damaging to national security pursuant to Executive Order 13526, signed by President Obama in 2009 — a leak a day.3
- While the majority of leaks concerned the investigation of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, other leaks during the Trump Administration disclosed information about U.S. adversaries or possible military plans against them.
- Leaked stories were sourced to virtually every possible type of anonymous current and former U.S. officials, some clearly from the intelligence community.
The Honorable Jeff Sessions
July 6, 2017
Page 2
o The rate of potentially damaging leaks during President Trump’s first 126 days in office was about seven times higher than the comparable periods under President Obama and President George W. Bush.
By necessity, this examination was not comprehensive, and it required some judgement calls on which leaks constituted potential damage to national security. Leaks of information that were borderline in terms of the criteria outlined in Executive Order 13526 were not included in the total. This analysis, if anything, presents a conservative estimate of the volume of leaks of information potentially damaging to national security during the Trump Administration.
The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is entrusted to oversee our nation’s federal records and to examine “the effectiveness of present national security methods, staffing, and procedures as tested against the requirements imposed by the rapidly mounting complexity of national security problems.” 5 The recent deluge of unauthorized disclosures of information with the capacity to harm national security has real world consequences. Existing federal law already prohibits the release of this type of information. It is the responsibility of the Justice Department to decide whether to bring criminal prosecutions in leak cases.
As the Department continues its investigation, I hope that you will take care to ensure that the analysis can be useful to the relevant investigative entities, consistent with Departmental policies and your recusal. 7 The success of the Department’s investigation is crucial to safeguarding our nation’s most sensitive information.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly or ask your staff to contact Jerry Markon at (202) 224-4751. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Congressman Ron Johnson
