It took until Sunday afternoon for the media to pick up the story that had been released in a memo on Friday evening by Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) which revealed that – surprise! – the FBI somehow “failed to preserve” FIVE MONTHS OF TEXTS between Peter Strzok and his mistress Lisa Page.

And we’re supposed to buy that this was a “technical failure.”

Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee, revealed in a Jan. 20 letter that the FBI’s technical system failed to preserve texts that were exchanged between Lisa Page, a lawyer, and Peter Strzok, an agent, between mid-December 2016 through mid-May of 2017.

A spokesman for the FBI and a spokeswoman for the Justice Department declined to comment.

No comment? Why, I’m shocked, SHOCKED, I tell you! It’s not like they tried to quietly inform the committee during a Friday night news dump… oh wait.

The disclosure was made Friday in a letter sent by the Justice Department to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC).

“The Department wants to bring to your attention that the FBI’s technical system for retaining text messages sent and received on FBI mobile devices failed to preserve text messages for Mr. Strzok and Ms. Page,” Stephen Boyd, the assistant attorney general for legislative affairs at the Justice Department, wrote to Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, the chairman of HSGAC.

He said that texts are missing for the period between Dec. 14, 2016 and May 17, 2017.

Boyd attributed the failure to “misconfiguration issues related to rollouts, provisioning, and software upgrades that conflicted with the FBI’s collection capabilities.”

“The result was that data that should have been automatically collected and retained for long-term storage and retrieval was not collected,” Boyd wrote.

May 17, 2017 is a significant date.

BREAKING: FBI ‘failed to preserve’ five months of text messages between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. From Dec. 14, 2016 to May 17, 2017, the day that Mueller was picked as special counsel. https://t.co/NZvQ06Q2Ja @dailycaller

— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) January 21, 2018

Which text messages did the FBI magically lose? The ones between anti-Trump agents from December 14, 2016…through the day Mueller was appointed. What a coincidence! https://t.co/6e1o3gUOX3

— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) January 21, 2018

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark, and we might get a clue from what text messages WERE preserved and revealed.

Newly turned over text messages suggest AG Lynch somehow already knew FBI would recommend no charges vs. Hillary Clinton when Lynch announced she would accept any FBI recommendation.

— Sharyl Attkisson (@SharylAttkisson) January 21, 2018

Text Messages turned over by FBI indicate FBI official changed additional language in Comey announcement stating no charges against Hillary Clinton in email probe.

— Sharyl Attkisson (@SharylAttkisson) January 21, 2018

As then-AG Lynch announced she'll accept whatever FBI recommends on charges in Hillary email probe, FBI insider Page texted her alleged boyfriend, FBI official Strzok: "And yeah, it’s a real profile in couragw [sic], since she knows no charges will be brought."

— Sharyl Attkisson (@SharylAttkisson) January 21, 2018

You mean that former Attorney General Lynch KNEW there would be no charges??? Why, I’m stunned!

Fox News confirmed Attkisson’s report.

One exchange between Strzok and Page, dated July 1, 2016, referenced then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s decision to accept the FBI’s conclusion in the Clinton investigation. Lynch’s announcement came days after it was revealed that the attorney general and former President Bill Clinton had an impromptu meeting aboard her plane in Phoenix.

“Timing looks like hell,” Strzok texted Page.

“Yeah, that is awful timing,” Page agreed. In a later message, she added: “It’s a real profile in couragw [sic], since she knows no charges will be brought.”

Four days later, then-FBI Director James Comey announced that no charges would be brought against Clinton, even though — as he put it — her actions in regard to the private server were “extremely careless.”

One can only imagine what was in the mysterious missing texts.

I am sure they were about Yoga and weddings and recipes.

— Perry Bullock (@PerryBullock) January 21, 2018

They were probably just talking about how great Chelsea wedding really was.

— Lion & Lamb (@ljm_scuba) January 21, 2018

What is clear is that until someone is held accountable within the FBI for cooking the Hillary verdict ahead of time, we can’t be confident about any results that come out of their investigations. Where on earth does that leave the American people?