Documents Show Mueller Prosecutors ‘Accidentally’ Wiped 27 Cellphones Before Inspector General Could Review Them

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At least 27 cellphones used by former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team were wiped before the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General could examine them, including one device that allegedly “wiped itself,” according to new documents.

Prosectors including Kyle Freeny, Rush Atkinson, Greg Andres, and Mueller deputy Andrew Weissmann wiped the government-issued iPhones they used by entering their passwords too many times, according to department records. Data stored on the devices is typically erased after 10 failed password attempts.

Investigators noted Andres said the erasure was an “accident” that resulted from a forgotten password. The other prosecutors described the erasures as “accidental” without listing a reason. Other officials, whose names were redacted, said their devices were similarly erased or never used.

The 87-page report also found that a phone assigned to FBI lawyer Lisa Page had been “misplaced.” That device had been restored to factory settings by the time the OIG received it. Page left the investigation in 2017, along with FBI agent Peter Strzok, after the revelation that the two had exchanged anti-Trump text messages as they were engaged in an extra-marital affair leading up to the 2016 election.

The Justice Department released the new documents in response to a Freedom of Information Act request submitted by Judicial Watch in 2018.

Then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Mueller in 2017 to investigate Russian interference in the preceding year’s presidential election. Attorney General William Barr appointed U.S. Attorney John Durham in 2019 to look into whether government officials conducted themselves appropriately in that investigation. Just one member of Mueller’s team, attorney Kevin Clinesmith, has pleaded guilty to date on charges that he tampered with an email used to obtain a search warrant.