2016 CAMPAIGN/CONGRESS/FBI/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/ROBERT MUELLER/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump on Wednesday [6-26-19] accused former special counsel Robert Mueller of committing a crime, without providing evidence, by deleting certain text messages sent between two former FBI officials who had been critical of Trump during his 2016 campaign. ‘[Mueller] terminated all the stuff between Strzok and Page,’ Trump told Maria Bartiromo, the host of Fox Business Network’s ‘Mornings with Maria,’ in a wide-ranging phone interview. ‘He terminated them. They’re gone. And that’s illegal. That’s a crime.’ Peter Strzok, who played a key role in the early stages of the Russia investigation, and fellow agent Lisa Page were romantically involved. Both were removed from the team after their affair surfaced through texts that came to light last year. The president bashed the pair in the interview Wednesday, calling them ‘stupid lovers.’ Trump’s comments were a roundabout reference to a report from the Justice Department’s inspector general last year that noted the iPhones used by Strzok and Page during their short stints on Mueller’s staff had been reset to factory settings, erasing the messages they contained.”
–Sarah Cammarata, “Trump slams Mueller ahead of testimony,” Politico, June 26, 2019 1:26 pm