DHS watchdog: Secret Service deleted Jan. 5 and 6 text messages after investigators requested records
WASHINGTON – The Secret Service deleted text messages from the day before and day of the 2021 Capitol attacks after the communications had been requested by the Homeland Security Department’s inspector general.
The disclosure was made to the House and Senate Homeland Security committees in a Wednesday letter from Inspector General Joseph Cuffari, who described “weeks-long delays” in obtaining relevant records in its inquiry of the Capitol assault.
“The (DHS) notified us that many U.S. Secret Service…text messages from January 5 and 6 2021 were erased as part of a device replacement program,” Cuffari wrote. “The USSS erased those messages after (the inspector general) requested records of electronic communications from USSS, as part of our evaluation of events at the Capitol on January 6.”
Cuffari went on to report that investigators were told by DHS staffers that the records could not be provided until they were reviewed by department attorneys.
“This review led to weeks-long delays in OIG obtaining records and created confustion over whether all records had been produced.” the inspector general wrote.
The Secret Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This is a developing story and will be updated