Byron York: Congress seeks answers after FBI claims texts missing in Trump-Russia probe

Investigators in both House and Senate were stunned late Friday when, receiving a batch of newly-released texts between FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, they also received notice from the bureau that the FBI "failed to preserve" Strzok-Page messages from December 14, 2016 through May 17, 2017.

Given the amount of texting that went on between Strzok and Page, who were having an extramarital affair, that probably meant thousands of missing documents.

A number of critical events in the Trump-Russia affair occurred between December 2016 and May 2017, including:

• Conversations between Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
• The completion and publication of the intelligence community assessment of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
• The briefing in which FBI director James Comey told President-elect Donald Trump about the Trump dossier.
• The president's inauguration.
• The nomination and confirmation of new Justice Department leadership.
• Flynn's interview with the FBI (conducted by Strzok).
• Comey's assurances to Trump that he, Trump, was not under investigation.
• A variety of revelations, mostly in the Washington Post and New York Times, about various Trump figures under investigation.
• Attorney General Jeff Sessions' recusal from the Russia probe.
• The firing of top Obama Justice Department holdover Sally Yates.
• Trump's tweet alleging he was wiretapped.
• Trump's firing of Comey.
• And, finally, on May 17, 2017 — the final day of the missing texts — the appointment of Trump-Russia special prosecutor Robert Mueller.

 How Convenient!

Strzok and Page had a lot to talk about....

Underlying all the questions is a diminished level of trust between some quarters of Congress and the FBI.

"Very suspicious," said one investigator about the news. "Hard to believe," said another.

When asked to rate his trust of the FBI on a scale from 1 to 10, the investigator quickly answered, "Zero."

 There have been so many episodes like this where crucial evidence is “lost” that I don’t believe any of it anymore.