https://oig.justice.gov/reports/2018/i-2018-003523.pdf
..
SCO's Records Officer told the 010
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 SCO was unable to locate the iPhone previously assigned to Page, which had been returned to DOJ's
Justice Management Division (JMD). Subsequently, in early September 2018, JMD informed the OIG that it
had located the iPhone that had been assigned to Page. The OIG took custody of the device. Page's iPhone had
been reset to factory settings on July 31, 2017, but had not been reissued to a new user. (The Office of the
Deputy Attorney General told the OJG that the Department routinely resets mobile devices to factory settings
when the device is returned from a user to enable that device to be issued to another user in the future.) The
OJG forensic review of the phone determined that it did not contain any data related to Page's use of the device.
SCO's Records Otlicer stated that she did not receive the phone following Page's departure from the $CO and
therefore she did not review Page's iPhone for records that would possibly need to be retained prior to the
phone having been reset. As noted on page 395 of the OIG's June 2018 report entitled, "A Review of Various
Actions by the Fedel'a! Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice in Advance of the 2016 Election,"
https://www.iustice.gov/file/l07199J/download,
the Department, unlike the FBI, does not have an automated
system that seeks to retain text messages, and the service provider only retains such messages for 5 to 7 days.
During calendar year 2017, the FBI phased out use of the Samsung Gala.xy S5 devices by its employees and
replaced them with Samsung Oala'Cy S7 devices because of software and other issues that prevented the data
collection tool from reliably capturing text messages sent and received via FBI issued Samsung Galaxy SS
mobile devices. According to FBl's Information and Technology Branch, as of November 15, 2018, the
data collection tool utilized by FBI was still not reliably collecting text messages from approximately IO
percent of FBI issued mobile devices, which included Samsung S7s and subsequently issued S9s. By
comparison, the estimated failure rate of the collection tool was 20 percent for the Samsung S5s.
The 010 reviewed DOJ memoranda and FBI policy relating to retention of substantive electronic
communications. These policies require individual employees to take steps to ensure preservation of such
electronic communications
relating to a criminal or civil investigation. The FBI policy informs its
employees to contact the FBl's Enterprise Security Operations Center (ESOC) if they need to access
electronic communications that the individual has not preserved, such as text messages and email messages.
According to FB('s Office of General Counsel, ESOC has in place a process for the collection of text
messages. However, the OIG determined that the FBI does not currently have a specific policy directive
mandating that FBI, through ESOC or otherwise, collect text messages sent and received by FBI employees
using their FBI issued mobile devices.
Upon reviewing a draft of this report, the FBI requested the opportunity to respond to it. The FBl's response is
attached as Appendix I.
Separate from this report,
the 010 will be submitting procedural reform recommendations to the FBI
relating to retention of electronic communications. ...
