Word has come out about dozens of conveniently wiped cellphones belonging to U.S. government officials who investigated the false theory that President Donald Trump and his campaign colluded with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The phones, used by agents on special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, might have contained revealing evidence about official misconduct or even crimes.
The fact of the wipings wasn’t unearthed by law enforcement or an official investigative body; it came as part of a private lawsuit filed by the conservative watchdog Judicial Watch. There’s no indication that anybody else cared to get to the bottom of the missing evidence, which was blamed on a variety of excuses such as government agents entering incorrect passwords too many times, causing the phones to delete their content.
Among the general public, the convenient disappearance of information doesn’t pass the smell test. One could reasonably theorize that those whose work phones were wiped preferred taking a PR hit for that, rather than having anyone actually examine what secrets the phones held.
If history is a guide, they’re correct to believe they’ll face little repercussion for allegedly improperly destroying data and evidence. There’s been little to no accountability in past high-profile cases of curiously lost or missing government records. And the phenomenon isn’t confined to one party.
Here are some high-profile examples that are sure to pluck the outrage nerve among Americans.