The Morning Briefing: Wiped, Like With a Cloth and Much, Much More

Good Friday morning. TGIF!

Here is what’s on the president’s agenda today:

The president receives his intelligence briefing
The president and first lady attend a Christmas reception

Feds are looking into Trump inauguration

The feds are investigating President Trump’s inauguration to see if any foreign entities bought influence by donating to the event. Of course they are.

The investigation is focused on whether people from Middle Eastern countries, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, disguised donations they made to both funds by using straw donors, the Times reported.

Wow. Is anyone at the federal agencies concerned about the RUSSIAN money that flowed into the Clinton Foundation prior to the Uranium One sale? Anyone? Bueller?

Prosecutors’ investigation into Trump’s inaugural committee was reported earlier Thursday by The Wall Street Journal.

The Journal reported that prosecutors in Manhattan are looking into whether Trump’s inaugural committee misspent funds or accepted donations in exchange for access to the administration.

WIPED, LIKE WITH A CLOTH

Short version: Mueller’s Office scrubbed clean both Strzok and Page’s phones. Reset to factory settings. SCO also didn’t know who handled Page’s device after she left in July 2017. SCO records officer said she doesn’t recall whether there were ANY texts on Strzok’s phone… https://t.co/xl2zOdtrkr

— Julie Kelly (@julie_kelly2) December 13, 2018

You are not going to believe this, but “all of the texts off of Strzok’s and Page’s mobile phones that they had received while they were working for the special counsel’s office (SCO) were deleted.”

Jordan Schachtel over at Conservative Review writes:

“SCO’s Records Officer told the OIG that as part of the office’s records retention procedure, the officer reviewed Strzok’s DOJ issued iPhone after he returned it to the SCO and determined it contained no substantive text messages,” the OIG report said in stating that Strzok’s phone had been “reset to factory settings,” which means it was completely wiped of all of its data.

Additionally, the SCO claimed it “was unable to locate the iPhone previously assigned to Page.” When the phone was finally found, it too had all of its data deleted and was reset to factory settings, according to the report.

Is that just wild? But not to worry, our government is fair and impartial and not looking to cover its own ass.

https://twitter.com/JordanSchachtel/status/1073290124266475520/photo/1

Historical picture of the day:

Chubby Checker, 20-year-old Philadelphia entertainer who started the “Twist” dance craze that has swept the nation, shows just how it’s done with a hip-swiveling demonstration at a press reception in London, England, Dec. 14, 1961. Mr.Checker is in Britain for radio and television engagements. (AP Photo)

Other morsels:

Maxine Waters’s Campaign Debt to Daughter Jumps $90,000

McConnell sets Monday test vote on criminal justice bill

CBS reached $9.5M settlement with actress over sexual harassment: report

Chief Justice of California Supreme Court leaves GOP over Kavanaugh confirmation

Oh, okay. Tijuana Official Provides Update On Spike In Crime

GOP could ditch Harris in North Carolina special

WAT? Jared Kushner reportedly could be the next chief of staff

Unsealed Transcript of Maria Butina Hearing Reveals Lawyer ‘Conflict,’ Awkward Exchange with ‘Perplexed’ Judge

Iran’s “Charming Kitten” hackers target U.S.

Nationwide bomb threats sent to schools

French authorities: Strasbourg suspect killed