FBI: Strzok and Page Texts Discuss Media Leak to Justify Investigations

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) went on the defense for President Trump on Tuesday claiming the Presidents predecessor “politicized” the DOJ and the FBI during the election. In a flurry of Tweets, Mr Graham threw his support in for Congressional Republicans who advocate for the federal government to declassify FISA warrant applications and the Bruce Ohr/Chris Steele interactions along with any other pertinent information.

I completely support House Republican efforts to have President Trump declassify the FISA warrant applications, the Bruce Ohr/Chris Steele interactions, and all other relevant information regarding allegations of corruption in the DOJ & FBI. https://t.co/emTWtVNFU6

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) September 11, 2018

In August the Senator called for a special counsel to investigate into Bruce Ohr, the DOJ’s former associate deputy general.

Ohr’s wife was found to be an employee of Fusion GPS, the research firm that compiled negative allegations (via British spy Christopher Steele) against Trump and his alleged ties to Russian operatives.

The Clinton Campaign which controlled the DNC as she was the party’s nominee at the time, used funds from the party to pay Steele’s fees. The FBI later used the dossier from Steele to form an investigation via a FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) application that resulted in the monitoring of Trump campaigners such as Carter Page.

Other Related Calls for Investigation

Aside from the Steele dossier and Bruce Ohr or the Clinton scandal involving a hidden email server, Republicans are pointing to text messages between FBI agents Peter Strzok and FBI Lawyer Lisa Page during their work on the Russian investigation. Those texts have been found to illustrate clear bias against then Presidential nominee Donald Trump. You may recall Strzok and his texts from such famous quotes as follows and when he spoke to Congress about the scandal:

On April of 2017, Peter Strzok and Lisa page text in regards to a planned bureau “media leak strategy”. On the 10th Strzok texted to Page “I had literally just gone to find this phone to tell you I want to talk to you about media leak strategy with DOJ before you go.” Mark Meadows pointed to this as the beginning of a plan by the two agents.

However,  Aitan Goelman, lawyer to Peter Strzok, claimed these texts were in reference to an FBI effort to stop leaks. Goelman accused the President making false claims.

A point of contention is when a certain text came out sent by Strzok to Page stating, “article is out! Well done, Page”. While originally a letter from Meadows to Rosenstein pointed the text came out on April 22nd, the message was recently found to be sent on the 11th. This is important as on the 12th the Washington Post circulated an article titled, “FBI obtained FISA warrant to monitor former Trump adviser Carter Page. The article, citing “law enforcement and other U.S. officials,” which reported a FISA judge had found, “probable cause to believe Page was acting as an agent of a foreign power, in this case, Russia.”

Mark Meadows is quoted stating that these texts and their timing, “should lead a reasonable person to question whether there was a sincere desire to investigate wrongdoing or to place derogatory information in the media to justify a continued probe.”

We've learned NEW information suggesting our suspicions are true: FBI/DOJ have previously leaked info to the press, and then used those same press stories as a separate source to justify FISA's

Unreal. Tomorrow's Bruce Ohr interview is even more critical. Did he ever do this?

— Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) August 28, 2018

A letter was sent to DAG (Deputy Attorney General) Rod Rosenstein in regards to a new timeline found around the Strzok leak.

UPDATE: Today we sent an updated letter to DAG Rosenstein, including a newly discovered text + new resulting timeline:

4/12/17: Strzok texts Lisa Page two articles are coming about "her namesake" (Carter Page)

4/22/17: Strzok tells Page: “article is out!" and "Well done, Page” pic.twitter.com/9af9BvbjM3

— Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) September 11, 2018

One gentleman named Jonathan Moffa, an analyst for the FBI that worked with Strzok and Page, spoke with Congress in a closed-door session. What was said is ambiguous and both sides, the FBI and Meadows, contend Moffa’s statements justify their claims. However, various sources report the analyst did elude to media leaks as a previous strategy by the FBI to validate investigations.

“Jonathan Moffa made it clear to the committee the FBI routinely uses media reports to corroborate analytic work product. We have emails and texts plainly showing the FBI leaks to the media, raising major red flags. If FBI executives want the American people to believe they haven’t used leaks to their advantage, they are not being honest,” Meadows said in the statement, while saying this includes FISA materials.

While the FBI pushed back Meadows waived them aside stating his Committee possessed texts and emails of the leaks to the media.

For those confused about the order of descent in this government pyramid you can find an illustration here:

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