FBI reportedly blames 'technical glitch' for missing texts between former Mueller probe agents

Texting.
(Image credit: iStock)

Thousands of cellphones given to FBI employees were unable to properly archive texts for months due to a "technical glitch," Fox News reported Wednesday, citing federal officials. The glitch prevented agents' messages from being "stored or uploaded into the bureau's archive system" — including messages exchanged by two former FBI employees who have emerged as central figures in the debate over Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.

On Sunday, the Justice Department announced that the FBI was missing five months of texts between Special Agent Peter Strzok and bureau lawyer Lisa Page, both of whom briefly served on Mueller's team. Strzok was previously removed from the FBI probe after it was revealed that he had disparaged the president in texts he'd sent to Page; the two were romantically involved.

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Kelly O'Meara Morales

Kelly O'Meara Morales is a staff writer at The Week. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and studied Middle Eastern history and nonfiction writing amongst other esoteric subjects. When not compulsively checking Twitter, he writes and records music, subsists on tacos, and watches basketball.