Fox News has obtained new text messages between former FBI agent Peter Strzok and his mistress Lisa Page, a former FBI lawyer, that show others within the government leaked information to the media before the Russia probe. From Fox News:
A lengthy exchange dated Dec. 15, 2016 appears to reveal a potential leak operation for “political” purposes.“Oh, remind me to tell you tomorrow about the times doing a story about the rnc hacks,” Page texted Strzok.“And more than they already did? I told you Quinn told me they pulling out all the stops on some story…” Strzok replied.
We do not know for sure who Quinn is, but someone told Fox News it could be “Richard Quinn, who served as the chief of the Media and Investigative Publicity Section in the Office of Public Affairs.”
Fox News continued:
Strzok again replied: “Think our sisters have begun leaking like mad. Scorned and worried, and political, they’re kicking into overdrive.”In one passage, Strzok apparently misreads a reference to “rnc” as “mc,” and then, realizing his error, blames “old man eyes.”—Following the text about “sisters leaking,” Strzok wrote to Page:“And we need to talk more about putting C reporting in our submission. They’re going to declassify all of it…”Page replied: “I know. But they’re going to declassify their stuff, how do we withhold…”“We will get extraordinary questions. What we did what we’re doing. Just want to ensure everyone is good with it and has thought thru all implications,” Strzok wrote. “CD should bring it up with the DD.”
We do not know who the “sisters” are that Strzok mentioned. Seventeen agencies make up the Intelligence Community like the FBI, CIA, and NSA.
Fox News spoke to John Iannarelli, a retired FBI special agent and former FBI national spokesman, who described the use of sisters as off and explained that the term “could be any intelligence agency or any other federal law enforcement agency” because “[T]he FBI works with all of them because, post 9/11, it’s all about cooperation and sharing.”
Another person told Fox News that “C” could refer to classified information (Did you get that, Hillary Clinton? C means CLASSIFIED). “CD” probably means Cyber Division and DD may be former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
On the day Strzok texted to page about people “leaking like mad,” the media published reports “that U.S. intelligence officials said they were convinced that Russian President Vladimir Putin was personally involved, and approved Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.” A few days before he sent the text, The New York Times published an article that claimed “senior administration officials” believe that Russian hackers aimed to help then-candidate Donald Trump win in November 2016.
These latest texts appear to back up the claims made by Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) on Monday and Tuesday. His office reviewed texts from Strzok and Page that show “an apparent systemic culture of media leaking by high-ranking officials at FBI and DOJ related to ongoing investigations.”
Strzok lost his job at the FBI in August due to the anti-Trump texts he sent to Page. Page resigned from the FBI in May. The two of them “exchanged 50,000 texts during the course of the campaign and the months that followed.”
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