[johnforbes]

... So, the total is apparently 50,000 plus the currently unknown number of formerly missing texts.

But that number refers only to the Strzok-Page texts that were sent and received on FBI-issued Samsung phones. There are a number of instances in the texts in which the two officials say that they should switch the conversation to iMessage, suggesting they continued to talk about FBI matters on personal Apple phones. For investigators, those are particularly intriguing texts – what was so sensitive that they couldn't discuss on their work phones? – but the number of those texts is unknown. And of course, they have not been turned over to Congress.

How many texts have been turned over? Both Justice Department and Capitol Hill sources say the total number is in the 7,000 range, which includes all the texts handed over on two separate occasions.

How many texts will be turned over? First, it's not possible to know how many texts from the Dec. 14, 2016 to May 17, 2017 time period will be recovered and turned over. But of the 50,000 the Justice Department already has in hand, officials say they have already turned over all they're going to give to Congress.

That means Justice has decided to allow Congress to see just 7,000 of a total of 50,000 Strzok-Page texts – slightly less than 15 percent of the total number of texts the Justice Department has now. Why is that? Justice Department officials point to a Jan. 19 letter from Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd to Capitol Hill investigators explaining which texts would and would not be turned over.

"The department is not providing text messages that were purely personal in nature," Boyd wrote. "Furthermore, the department has redacted from some work-related text messages portions that were purely personal. The department's aim in withholding purely personal text messages and redacting personal portions of work-related text messages was primarily to facilitate the committee's access to potentially relevant text..."

[Intrepid]

These two should be fired purely on the evidence they accomplished absolutely nothing pertaining to their jobs, devoting virtually all their government paid time to texting back and forth.

[johnforbes]

When they say "purely personal," it makes a cynical person wonder whether that means the agency is covering up the full extent of their misdeeds.

At this point, clearly they don't understand that the reputation of "justice" cannot be helped by hiding some of the material.

Also, the public has the right to know what Strozok and Page were doing on taxpayer money.

My bet is that the texts they are still hiding will show not just their affair, but more importantly the extent of their corruption.

But the shocking this is that they are STILL trying to conceal evidence.

[RealJustme]

The department's aim in withholding purely personal text messages and redacting personal portions of work-related text messages was primarily to facilitate the committee's access to potentially relevant text..."

It would amazingly naïve to believe that the DOJ and FBI are withholding and redacting certain texts requested by Congress to avoid wasting Congress' time reading them.

[johnforbes]

Particularly because they have been doing nothing but wasting congressional time by not providing the texts in the first place.

Were it not for Judicial Watch lawsuits, most of this sort of info would have remained hidden.

[RealJustme]

Were it not for Judicial Watch lawsuits, most of this sort of info would have remained hidden.

Very true, first the DOJ and FBI ignored Congress' request for the documents for months, it was only after
Congress prepared to hold them in contempt did they say the would provide them, they then only handed over a portion saying that was all of them, then backtracked after Congress proved there were more, "We missed those, OK we'll provide them". Then "Hey 5 months of the documents have been deleted, Samsung's fault sorry" Then "Oh, someone was able to retrieve them??" "Tell you what we're going to do, since we know your time is important and ours isn't, we're going weed out the ones you don't need and redact information on the ones that we do provide so you don't waste time reading stuff you don't really need for your investigation. No need to thank us, that's just type of agency we are, we are all about fully cooperating and being completely transparent as we've been through this whole process."