“entered password too many times and wiped his phone” Special Counsel’s Office phone-review log, as reported by The Federalist and the Washington Examiner (March 2018 entry)
In September 2020, Judicial Watch released 87 pages of Justice Department records from a FOIA suit (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. DOJ, No. 1:19-cv-02693). The group’s September 11, 2020, write-up and The Federalist’s September 10 piece by Kylee Griswold describe a Special Counsel’s Office phone-review log. Multiple devices were recorded as wiped or inaccessible before review — forgotten passcodes, too many wrong attempts, airplane mode, factory reset.
The Federalist and the Washington Examiner both name Weissmann in the notes: a March 2018 review entry that he “entered password too many times and wiped his phone,” and a September 2018 entry that he “accidentally wiped cell phone — data lost.” Judicial Watch’s summary also lists Weissmann among named device holders and describes two of his phones in the wiped/inaccessible set. Those are what the records say happened to the devices. They are not a criminal conviction for obstruction.
Sen. Chuck Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson wrote DOJ and Inspector General Michael Horowitz after the release, asking whether record-keeping laws were followed and whether the wipes were a “widespread intentional effort.” That is congressional inquiry, not an IG finding published on this page that Weissmann personally destroyed evidence to impede a probe. Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton called for a criminal investigation. That is Fitton’s demand, labeled as such.
Allegation “Wholesale evidence destruction” is The Federalist’s headline characterization. The documents show wipes attributed to passcode errors and accidents. This site does not invent a secret order to erase the Russia file. It prints the log language and the preferred-outlet coverage. Grassley’s unanswered questions stay unanswered here unless a later official finding is cited.
Same-week write-ups repeated the log. The Washington Times (Sept. 11, 2020) quoted the March 2018 note that he “entered password too many times and wiped his phone.” The New York Post the same day said he “accidentally wiped” a device twice after bad passcodes in March 2018. Just the News (Daniel Payne, Sept. 10, 2020) and Daily Signal (Sept. 11, 2020) printed Judicial Watch’s spreadsheet: wipes noted for 2018-03-08 (or March 3, depending on the write-up) and 2018-09-27. The Examiner later quoted his Melber denial that he mishandled evidence and his claim the data was backed up. That is his denial, not an IG clearance on this page.