title: Report: DOJ Watchdog Denies Role in Release of Peter Strzok Texts
authors: Todd Beamon
content: Three Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee — Reps. Jerrold Nadler and Hakeem Jeffries , both of New York , and Jamie Raskin of Maryland — had requested more information about the release of the texts between Strzok and Lisa Page , a lawyer who had also been assigned to the Mueller probe .
  The texts — two anti-Trump and pro-Hillary Clinton messages each — were exchanged during the 2016 presidential campaign .
  Horowitz 's contention that his office was not consulted in advance conflicted with the account of tweeted Friday by Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores , the Examiner reports .
  Flores tweeted that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told Congress Wednesday that `` after initial inquiries from Congress , the DAG consulted with the IG , and the IG determined that he had no objection to the department providing the material to the congressional committees that had requested it ( discussion w IG was only about Congress ) . ''
  But Flores then stressed that `` once we provided them to Congress , there was no legal or ethical obligation against sharing them w media . ''
  The Chairman & Ranking Members of the congressional committees were provided the opportunity to have copies of the texts delivered to their offices . This was completed before any member of the media was given access to view the same copy by the Dept 's Office of Public Affairs . — Sarah Isgur Flores ( @ SarahFloresDOJ ) December 15 , 2017
  As the DAG said , after initial inquiries from Congress , the DAG consulted with the IG , and the IG determined that he had no objection to the Department providing the material to the Congressional committees that had requested it ( discussion w IG was only about Congress ) . — Sarah Isgur Flores ( @ SarahFloresDOJ ) December 15 , 2017
  After that consultation , senior career ethics advisors determined that there were no legal or ethical concerns , including under the Privacy Act , that prohibited the release of the information to the public either by members of Congress or by the Department . — Sarah Isgur Flores ( @ SarahFloresDOJ ) December 15 , 2017
  Here 's where confusion seems to be : It seems that other reporters may have had same copies of texts outside of this process . But , as should be clear , once we provided them to Congress , there was no legal or ethical obligation against sharing them w media . — Sarah Isgur Flores ( @ SarahFloresDOJ ) December 15 , 2017
  So timeline in short : ( 1 ) Copies delivered to Congress , ( 2 ) Some media outlets are in possession of copies of texts ( 3 ) Department shows copies of texts to reporters working in the building . — Sarah Isgur Flores ( @ SarahFloresDOJ ) December 15 , 2017
  After Horowitz 's letter was released , Flores tweeted that it was consistent with what she had said previously .
  The letter released by the IG tonight is entirely consistent w my earlier tweets & DAG 's testimony . IG had no objection to release to Congress . We then consulted senior career legal/ethics experts to determine there were no issues w releasing texts to either Congress or press . — Sarah Isgur Flores ( @ SarahFloresDOJ ) December 16 , 2017
  Strzok was removed from Mueller 's team in August and moved to a human resources position after disclosures that he and Page had `` exchanged text messages during the Clinton investigation and campaign season in which they expressed anti-Trump sentiments and other comments that appeared to favor Clinton , '' the Examiner reports .
  Strzok also served as a lead investigator in the probe of Clinton 's private email server use .
content_original: Three Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee — Reps. Jerrold Nadler and Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York, and Jamie Raskin of Maryland — had requested more information about the release of the texts between Strzok and Lisa Page, a lawyer who had also been assigned to the Mueller probe.
  
  The texts — two anti-Trump and pro-Hillary Clinton messages each — were exchanged during the 2016 presidential campaign.
  
  They were disclosed to news organizations on Tuesday.
  
  Horowitz's contention that his office was not consulted in advance conflicted with the account of tweeted Friday by Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores, the Examiner reports.
  
  Flores tweeted that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told Congress Wednesday that "after initial inquiries from Congress, the DAG consulted with the IG, and the IG determined that he had no objection to the department providing the material to the congressional committees that had requested it (discussion w IG was only about Congress)."
  
  But Flores then stressed that "once we provided them to Congress, there was no legal or ethical obligation against sharing them w media."
  
  The Chairman & Ranking Members of the congressional committees were provided the opportunity to have copies of the texts delivered to their offices. This was completed before any member of the media was given access to view the same copy by the Dept's Office of Public Affairs. — Sarah Isgur Flores (@SarahFloresDOJ) December 15, 2017
  
  As the DAG said, after initial inquiries from Congress, the DAG consulted with the IG, and the IG determined that he had no objection to the Department providing the material to the Congressional committees that had requested it (discussion w IG was only about Congress). — Sarah Isgur Flores (@SarahFloresDOJ) December 15, 2017
  
  After that consultation, senior career ethics advisors determined that there were no legal or ethical concerns, including under the Privacy Act, that prohibited the release of the information to the public either by members of Congress or by the Department. — Sarah Isgur Flores (@SarahFloresDOJ) December 15, 2017
  
  Here's where confusion seems to be: It seems that other reporters may have had same copies of texts outside of this process. But, as should be clear, once we provided them to Congress, there was no legal or ethical obligation against sharing them w media. — Sarah Isgur Flores (@SarahFloresDOJ) December 15, 2017
  
  So timeline in short: (1) Copies delivered to Congress, (2) Some media outlets are in possession of copies of texts (3) Department shows copies of texts to reporters working in the building. — Sarah Isgur Flores (@SarahFloresDOJ) December 15, 2017
  
  After Horowitz's letter was released, Flores tweeted that it was consistent with what she had said previously.
  
  The letter released by the IG tonight is entirely consistent w my earlier tweets & DAG's testimony. IG had no objection to release to Congress. We then consulted senior career legal/ethics experts to determine there were no issues w releasing texts to either Congress or press. — Sarah Isgur Flores (@SarahFloresDOJ) December 16, 2017
  
  Strzok was removed from Mueller's team in August and moved to a human resources position after disclosures that he and Page had "exchanged text messages during the Clinton investigation and campaign season in which they expressed anti-Trump sentiments and other comments that appeared to favor Clinton," the Examiner reports.
  
  Strzok also served as a lead investigator in the probe of Clinton's private email server use.